Max Verstappen News: F1 champion admits he was WRONG about key decision

F1 News & Gossip

Verstappen admits he was WRONG about key F1 decision

Max Verstappen admits he got a decision wrong at the Japanese Grand Prix

Shay Rogers

Wednesday 10 April 2024 16:57

Max Verstappen has admitted that he got a key car decision wrong in the run-up to the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Dutchman returned to dominant form after a rare retirement in Australia, by bouncing back with an emphatic win at the Suzuka Circuit.

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He led almost every lap and was completely untroubled by any of his close rivals on Sunday, as Red Bull took their third one-two finish from four races.

The RB20 currently holds a fair advantage over the likes of Ferrari and McLaren at most tracks, but both teams have shown promising signs of closing the gap.

The Red Bull RB20 driven by Max Verstappen at Suzuka

Max Verstappen's race engineer - Gianpiero Lambiase

What happened between Max Verstappen and Red Bull?

The European leg of the season typically provides a chance for teams to bring big upgrades to their cars as they chase performance.

That means Red Bull may have to keep an eye over their shoulder when F1 arrives in Imola for the Emilia Romagna GP in May.

Part of the reason why the Milton Keynes outfit has been so formidable is the incredible talent that they possess within the team.

They aren’t afraid to challenge themselves and each other – something which saw Verstappen proven wrong at the Japanese GP, when his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase called for a setup change.

“We had, not an argument, but he said, ‘are you sure you want to do this?’ I was pretty sure and it turned out to be wrong!” Verstappen said after the race. “But he was right.

"In a way it also fires me up because I am like, ‘even though I am not entirely happy with the balance now I will still try to be as consistent as I can be without shouting back at him.’ We have a great relationship, and it works well like that.”

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Japanese Grand Prix