Max Verstappen F1 News: Helmut Marko issues GRIM Dutch Grand Prix verdict for Red Bull star

Max Verstappen

Red Bull chief issues GRIM Verstappen verdict for Dutch Grand Prix

Verstappen has failed to win for Red Bull in the last four F1 races

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Monday 19 August 2024 11:57

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Red Bull chief Helmut Marko has admitted that the 'big solution' to Max Verstappen's recent Formula 1 struggles will not come at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend.

Verstappen's dominance in F1 has been challenged in recent races, with the Dutchman unable to win any of the last four grands prix.

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As the summer break draws to a close, the excitement now builds ahead of Zandvoort and the prospect of celebrating yet another Verstappen win on home soil.

Max Verstappen is no stranger to success in Zandvoort

Despite the 26-year-old winning the last three successive races on his home track, the likes of McLaren and Mercedes have now mounted a serious threat to Verstappen's supremacy.

Combined with struggles on and off the track for Red Bull and it now appears as if Verstappen has a real fight on his hands if he is to make it four years of successive Zandvoort celebrations.

Mercedes and McLaren have fought back against Red Bull

And now Marko has looked to pour cold water over any hopes of Red Bull coming up with a miracle cure over the summer break, as the Red Bull advisor admitted that the Dutch Grand Prix could still be a struggle for the team.

Marko: No Red Bull cure at Dutch Grand Prix

"During the summer break, nothing happens for two weeks, which means that no work can be done on the car," he wrote in his column for Speedweek.

"We have to solve our problems and find out where the problem lies, because we no longer have the balance in the car if you compare the current situation with the first three races.

"But it is difficult to estimate how quickly that will happen. I don't think that the big solution will come in Zandvoort. We are brainstorming intensively and have various ideas. But I can't say yet what we will implement and how."

Regardless as to whether or not Red Bull find a way to regain their dominance over the rest of the grid, Marko is all too aware that they need to get the job done on Saturday to stand a chance of winning the race.

"One thing is clear," he added. "Qualifying in Zandvoort will be crucial, because overtaking is almost impossible there.

"Max could well manage a good qualifying, because he has been good there recently. We were the fastest in Austria and also in Spa.

"In Hungary we were only a few hundredths of a second off - so we are complaining at a high level."