Naomi Schiff berates ‘disrespectful’ Max Verstappen response after Hungarian Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen had a weekend he’ll want to forget at the Hungarian Grand Prix but could easily prove to be a turning point in the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Oscar Piastri took the chequered flag for McLaren and was closely followed home by teammate Lando Norris.

It was the perfect weekend for McLaren for their Constructors’ Championship title bid although the way they reached that result could have been handled better.

For Red Bull, it was another weekend that raised more questions than answers.

Sergio Perez’s future is in serious doubt and achieving a 7^th-place finish after a disastrous qualifying session was the best he could hope for.

The Mexican driver almost certainly needs to impress at Spa on Sunday to have a chance of seeing out the season with Red Bull.

However, for Max Verstappen, it was a race that may have caused more harm than good.

He was unable to beat either McLaren in qualifying despite running the full update package that was delivered to the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen was frustrated with the strategy calls made by Red Bull and he made contact with Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages that cost him another position.

Naomi Schiff was speaking on Sky Sports F1 after the race and was incredibly unimpressed with his comments after the race.

Verstappen’s radio messages were furious, to say the least, and in the media pen, he didn’t hide his feelings about how the team performed.

He suggested that some members of the team need to ‘wake up’ if they want to win both championships again.

However, Schiff is unsure those comments will go down well within the Red Bull team.

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Naomi Schiff unhappy with ‘disrespectful’ Max Verstappen comments at the Hungarian GP

Reflecting on Verstappen’s comments, Schiff said: “Yeah, I’m actually just thinking about what Max said there about people staying home, I think that’s quite…I don’t know if he’s referring to the team members or the fans.

“But I find that quite a disrespectful message, I mean he’s got to remember that there’s no I in team and while he is their top driver and they always put him forwards, he’s got to remember that there are loads of people working behind him that put these results together.

“On a day like today, sometimes you need to keep the team on your side and if you talk to people like that and say things like that, you get them offside.

“We know that GP’s been getting a lot coming from Max in the past and they’ve always said that that’s the relationship that they have and that’s fine.

“But there might be other people who are on that radio who are also listening, who are part of this team who don’t like being spoken to like that.

“I don’t think it’s cool, I know as a driver when you’ve got your helmet on it’s a heated environment but in this sport, you do have a radio mic that’s going out to the whole world, all your fans, including kids.”

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Max Verstappen has already sent a warning to potential next Red Bull teammate

While Max Verstappen might be frustrated with how Red Bull performed in Hungary, at least his future is secured.

His teammate Sergio Perez needs to have a positive result in Spa and then face the music back at the Red Bull garage to see what decision Red Bull will make on his future.

If Red Bull do decide to make a change, Daniel Ricciardo is expected to replace Perez and make a long-awaited return to the team.

However, Verstappen was spotted complaining about the RB20 to Ricciardo before the Hungarian Grand Prix began.

Those worries came to pass at the Hungaroring as he simply couldn’t overtake his rivals when push came to shove.

Ricciardo may not have to wait very long to discover just how quick the car is for himself.