‘He’s given up’… Max Verstappen’s Monza radio messages highlight how bad Red Bull’s problems are

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Max Verstappen was not happy throughout the Italian Grand Prix weekend and that feeling is becoming more and more common this season.

After winning seven of the first ten races, Max Verstappen hasn’t stood on the top step of the podium since.

In Monza, it was clear before qualifying even started that the Dutchman was going to have to pull off something special to avoid Lando Norris cutting the deficit in the Drivers’ Championship.

However, as he and his teammate Sergio Perez showed, the Red Bull car simply wasn’t capable of competing with its closest rivals.

Verstappen is a perfectionist – as many of the greatest Formula 1 drivers are – and demands those same levels from those around him.

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It was clear in Hungary that Verstappen’s frustrations were boiling over and that forced him into a rare mistake.

However, speaking on the Autosport YouTube channel, journalist Mark Mann-Bryans noticed something else from the 26-year-old during the Italian Grand Prix.

Although Verstappen was still just as demanding on the team radio in Monza, there was a sense that he knew no matter what he did he was in trouble.

It’s something Red Bull have to address immediately to avoid watching both championships slip through their fingers.

Max Verstappen’s worrying radio messages during the Italian Grand Prix

Talking after the race, Mann-Bryans commented: “I sat next to Alex [Kalinauckas] during the race, you had the radio channel on.

“He’s just…every race at the moment I know he complains. When he’s not winning he’s been complaining and gets angry.

“But he’s almost like he’s given up when you hear some of those messages. He was complaining about the backmarkers today.

“It was almost like there was this complete disconnect between what’s happening on the track and he’s in a title fight.

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“He just seems to go right this isn’t happening for me today, we saw when he came out of the pits after the slow pit stop, he was slamming on the wheel, just such a frustrated guy at the moment.

“I don’t know how that switch comes either, I think something with the car needs to change but also his mentality.

“He just doesn’t seem at all happy out here at the moment.”

The message that really caught people’s attention came towards the end of the race when he said: “Can people in the background please be awake? I know this is a —- position, but it’s important,” highlighting just how annoyed he was with the team’s overall performance.

Martin Brundle was surprised by Red Bull’s decision during the Italian Grand Prix

Red Bull have developed a reputation for extremely strong decision-making as well as being incredibly efficient.

It meant it was a real surprise when Verstappen changed his tyres for the first time and Red Bull made a mistake on the pit stop.

That was evident at the sister RB team when one of their mechanics touched Daniel Ricciardo’s car while he was serving a penalty.

Martin Brundle was surprised Red Bull started both drivers on the hard tyres rather than splitting their strategies.

Given that the one-stop was possible – as demonstrated by eventual race winner Charles Leclerc – not then going onto the medium tyres after their first stint may also have been an error.

Things are not going well at Red Bull and while Christian Horner is key to point out that Adrian Newey’s imminent departure isn’t a major issue, more and more senior figures are leaving the team to join their rivals, making recovering from this slump even more difficult.