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Things have not been going well for Red Bull, and Max Verstappen’s woes in Shanghai may have exposed a problem no one expected.
Verstappen struggled with his car all weekend, and his Chinese Grand Prix ended early as Red Bull had to retire the car, marking the second race in which they’ve had just one driver pass the chequered flag.
After the race, Verstappen slammed the new regulations yet again, suggesting that he wouldn’t be in support of them even if he had won.
Is Toto Wolff planting the seeds for poaching Max Verstappen from Red Bull? 🤔
Toto Wolff suggested Verstappen is in a horror show, as Red Bull’s struggles have left the four-time world champion battling for points in the midfield.
Max Verstappen was reportedly downbeat about the state of his car and how Red Bull have handled things. And given all the talk ahead of this season, the issues that have come up are quite surprising.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen has now put ‘options on the table’ for the FIA to improve F1 rules amid frustrations
Jolyon Palmer says Max Verstappen’s DNF showed Red Bull powertrains are not the issue
Jolyon Palmer spoke on the F1 Nation podcast about Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s struggles this season, and what the issue is behind them.
Palmer noted that rather than Red Bull’s powertrains, it is the construction of their car that has left them chasing the rest of the pack.
“You take the Hadjar race from last time out, where he’s qualifying third and running in the top five, and then you need to work on the reliability.”
“I think Max being so disappointed with the level of performance, the worrying thing for Red Bull is not necessarily down to the power unit, which is what should have been their Achilles heel, starting power trains from scratch.”
“But they’ve done a really decent job on that. This is not a massively energy-sensitive circuit… Seems like it’s mainly down to the chassis, downforce package, and finding some grip mechanically as well. They’re a long way off it.”
“And Max said they had the chance to change the car between the sprint and qualifying, changed it a lot, which they’ve done historically to massive success all the time, and it made very little difference. It’s something inherent in there that they’re not on top of.”
READ MORE: Damon Hill thinks Red Bull are now ‘forcing’ Max Verstappen into errors after horror Chinese GP
What’s gone wrong for Red Bull?
Max Verstappen could eye Red Bull exit if situation doesn’t improve
The unfortunate cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix will give Red Bull some much-needed time to address many of their issues.
Max Verstappen will be hopeful they can make some improvements in time for the Miami Grand Prix. However, even Verstappen acknowledged Red Bull need many months to get ahead of their problems.
Verstappen was incredibly frustrated with Red Bull during the Chinese Grand Prix. And if these issues persist for the remainder of the season, his future with the team could be in jeopardy.
If Verstappen thinks Red Bull’s issues will go beyond this season, he could look to leave the team and pursue his championship aspirations elsewhere.
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