Max Verstappen F1 News: MAJOR change to Red Bull star's car mooted

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MAJOR change to Verstappen’s car mooted

Max Verstappen may face a major change later in the season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 1 September 2024 13:29

A Formula 1 pundit has suggested that Max Verstappen may face a major change to his Red Bull car.

Verstappen has struggled with his RB20 during recent grands prix, and could only put his Red Bull in seventh place ahead of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, with team-mate Sergio Perez just one position behind in eighth.

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The Dutchman still holds a 70-point lead over rival Lando Norris in the drivers' championship, but is far from certain to claim his fourth consecutive title.

Norris started Sunday's race from pole position, hoping to put some real daylight between himself and his championship rival in an attempt to close that mammoth gap.

Max Verstappen has recently been frustrated by his car

Max Verstappen suffered a poor qualifying at Monza

Verstappen faces changes to car

While Verstappen's miserable qualifying left him with a huge job on his hands in order to get back up onto the podium at Monza, a former F1 driver has suggested the Dutchman could suffer more pain as the season goes on, with his Red Bull team potentially opting to go back to basics.

Christijan Albers drove in F1 between 2005-2007, and is now a fixture of Viaplay's F1 coverage in the Netherlands.

Speaking ahead of the Italian GP, he suggested that Red Bull were seen unloading a chassis from their truck for him to try, potentially suggesting the team will go back to square one later in the season following a plethora of upgrades that have not worked.

"Things are just not going smoothly at Red Bull," Albers confessed on Viaplay. "You see that a lot of people have left the team and that doesn't do the team any good. They talk about it nonchalantly: 'It will all be fine'. But you can still notice that the big guys, like Rob Marshall and Adrian Newey, are missed.

"What I saw when I was at the pit box, I can show you briefly, but we can't tell anyone. They were already preparing for this," he continued while pushing a Red Bull screen out of the way.

"They unloaded a monocoque from the truck. They played it safe."

The FIA have since confirmed that Verstappen's team had made a few changes to the Dutchman's car ahead of the Italian GP, including a left hand side rear brake cooling duct, and a rear brake duct mounting bracket.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton FIA Sergio Perez Italian Grand Prix