Jos Verstappen says Red Bull didn’t help his son in Monaco
Jos Verstappen, the father of Max Verstappen, has expressed his displeasure at seeing Red Bull helping Sergio Perez last Sunday at the Monaco Grand Prix rather than his son, the current Formula 1 world championship leader.
In Monaco, Red Bull deployed a very aggressive strategy against Ferrari which allowed Sergio Perez to take the lead of the race when Scuderia Ferrari got bogged down with a risky strategy, losing the Grand Prix lead to its driver. Charles Leclerc who will finally finish fourth in his home race. World championship leader Max Verstappen managed to finish on the third step of the podium on Sunday, but his father, the Dutchman, was not helped enough by his team: “Red Bull got a good result, but at the same time an exercise of little influence to help Max take the lead. » regrets the former F1 driver in a column published on Max Verstappen’s official website.
“The fact of finishing third, he owes it to the error of Ferrari during this second pit stop by Charles Leclerc. In this sense, the leader of the championship, Max, was not helped by the chosen strategy. This turned completely in favor of Checo [Perez]. It disappointed me and I wish it had been different for the championship leader. »
“Perez won the race because of the previous pit stop. The team may explain this being like a bet, but they had already seen, for example with Gasly, that the Intermediates were the best option at that time. I would have liked them to do the same with Max, but of course, I am not at all objective. I think ten points for Max was thrown away, and with the two retirements we had [Bahreïn et l’Australie], we need each point. »
“You have to remember that Ferrari is currently a better car, especially in qualifying. Max also had bad luck in qualifying, because on his last run he was significantly faster and on his way to second place until Perez crashed. Everything would have been different then. Apart from all that, I’m happy for Checo, winning in Monaco is of course something special and I hope he likes it. Now it’s full focus on the next courses in Baku and Canada. »
After the Monaco Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is still the world championship leader with a nine-point lead over Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.