Max Verstappen has drawn its conclusions after the debacle at Monza and Mugello. The driver of Red Bull Racing dropped out in both races with an engine problem and now know for sure: the battle for the title is definitely over. “It will not happen again,” said Verstappen.
Prior to the season, the signals were still so positive: Red Bull and Verstappen seemed completely ready Mercedes seriously to challenge for the world title. Nothing turned out to be further from the truth, because Verstappen dropped out during the first race. It turned out to be not his only withdrawal of the season, because he also stopped at Monza and in Tuscany with a motor problem. In all three races in which he recorded a DNF, he seemed to be able to claim victory. However, now that he was always left empty-handed, the hole is gone Lewis Hamilton become unbridgeable. The title fight is definitely over, Verstappen concludes.
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Even before Verstappen dropped out at Mugello, he no longer gave himself a chance for the world title. “For me personally that is over”, he said in conversation with the Austrian ORF. “If you are so far behind and too slow, that will not happen again. We still want to win every weekend, but the championship is over.” Shortly after this interview, Verstappen’s RB16 came to a standstill during the Tuscany Grand Prix and saw the gap to Hamilton increase to 80 points. Now that the season is well halfway through, Verstappen knows that his chance at the championship has been lost.
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After the race, the 22-year-old driver therefore maintained his previously taken position. The problems at Red Bull, especially after Monza and Mugello, are too big to solve this season. “I have accepted that things are not going as it should be this year,” he says. “But I will continue to give everything every weekend to get the best out of it.”
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Also next season, Red Bull does not seem to be able to make a fist against Mercedes. Due to the corona crisis, the teams are hardly allowed to make any changes to the car towards next year. Engine development has also been frozen, which means that Honda can’t make as many updates as they might have hoped. However, the power source may be improved for reliability. This is a good thing for Honda, because Verstappen has already stopped several times this season with a defect in the power unit.
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