For the first time since his home race joined the Formula 1 calendar in 2021, Max Verstappen wasn’t the man to beat in Zandvoort.
Verstappen was soundly beaten by McLaren’s Lando Norris in qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix — to the tune of three tenths — and while another stuttering start cost Norris the lead on race day, he soon swept past and sailed off into the distance, defeating Verstappen by 22.9 seconds.
McLaren being on top is nothing new, as it mainly stopped itself from picking up more than its two wins before the summer break in Miami and Budapest, rather than its rivals getting in the way.
But the margin of Norris’ emphatic victory, in the Dutch lion’s den nonetheless, is poignant as an otherwise comfortable gap of 70 points in the drivers’ standings suddenly doesn’t sound so cushiony anymore.
What was once seen as a blip, an unfortunately timed run of bumpier circuits like Miami and Monaco that punished an inherent Red Bull weakness, has since carried over on circuits where Red Bull used to be dominant too.
But while few expected Norris to mount a credible title bid earlier in the season, this is the exact scenario Verstappen had been vocally warning about for months as Red Bull struggled to eke much more performance out of the RB20’s car concept.
From Miami onwards, Verstappen — never one to mince his words — had been urging the team both in public and in private to get its act together.
Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Speaking in Austria two months ago, Verstappen said: «In general everybody has come closer, I think we just have to be honest about that. We could say: ‘Yes, it’s normal’. I don’t think it’s normal. We always want to be better, and that’s why I bring that up.
«I could also say: ‘Yes, we won [in Spain], so it’s fine.’ But I don’t look at it that way. We do have to keep working hard. If we think this is normal, people are going to overtake us.»
That has now happened, with McLaren adding to its game-changing Miami upgrades with another package in the Netherlands that has also appeared to hit the mark and improved its aerodynamic efficiency.
Meanwhile, Red Bull has had to roll back some of its Hungary updates, with technical director Pierre Wache conceding to Autosport that it may have hit the ceiling of where it can take this year’s car.
Is anger making way for acceptance?
In Budapest, Verstappen was particularly irate and frustrated when Red Bull’s long-awaited upgrades didn’t provide the gains expected and launched a tirade on the team radio against his race engineer over the strategy he was put on, with Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase clearing the air a week later in Spa.
But while natural-born winner Verstappen could have been expected to be equally upset at losing his win streak in front of Zandvoort’s orange-clad grandstands, the difference with McLaren was such that anger appeared to make way for acceptance as there was nothing Red Bull could have thrown at Norris to stop him, not even taking the lead at the start.
After reporting the car «doesn’t respond to my inputs», Verstappen was powerless to keep Norris behind and soon switched to management mode, ensuring he would at least finish second rather than try and force the issue to keep Norris under any semblance of pressure.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, passes Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
«There was nothing that I could do, so once he passed, I just focused on doing my race, tried to bring it to the end in second,» Verstappen said, who re-iterated that McLaren’s big advantage doesn’t come out of nowhere.
«I think this weekend was just a bad weekend in general, so we need to understand that. But the last few races already haven’t really been fantastic. So that, I think in a sense, was already a bit alarming.
«But we know that we don’t need to panic. We are just trying to improve the situation. And that’s what we are working on. But F1 is very complicated.»
Christian Horner gave his view on Verstappen’s even-keeled demeanour: «I think he accepted it. He knew that Lando just had a quicker car today and actually saw that from Friday. So I think he drove a very mature race where he wanted to ensure that, OK, he was conceding seven points to Lando, but he didn’t want to concede more than that.
«You’ve got to drive with the championship in mind. And there’s been seven different race winners this year. So, if you can’t win, then you’ve got to be scoring the points.»
It feels like Verstappen has already made his point to Red Bull often enough, and is now just getting on with making the most of what he has to safeguard his fourth world championship.
What Red Bull can do to turn things around
So what can Red Bull actually do to turn the ship around, or at least ensure it stands a fighting chance to defend its slender 30-point lead in the constructors’ championship? And how worried should it be by Zandvoort’s monstrous gap with circuits like its 2023 Achilles heel Singapore coming up?
There are a few factors that have made the 22-second deficit larger than it really should have been, with Red Bull admitting it had gambled on a higher downforce strategy which failed to pay off in the race, having had limited dry running in practice.
Not only did it make Verstappen a sitting duck on the straight against Norris, but it also overcompensated in pure lap time to protect against a level of tyre degradation that turned out to be lower than expected.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Horner also pointed out that Perez’s newer floor package, compared to an older version run by Verstappen, «got the better of the two», meaning the Dutchman’s car was already leaving lap time on the table.
But that doesn’t sugarcoat the reality it is in, with no silver bullet to provide an immediate fix even if Red Bull’s split package approach yielded more answers to Verstappen’s persistent questions over his RB20’s compromised car balance.
«Obviously, it’s not nice to be beaten by 22 seconds, but it just shows when you get things right in your car in the window, as we saw earlier in the year, that kind of result is possible,» Horner said.
«It doesn’t scare us in any way. It just focuses the mind that we need to turn this around, we need to get it right.
«The pressure is on us to respond and we’re used to being in championship fights over the years. We’ll dig deep and we’re going to fight with everything we’ve got over the remaining nine races.»
Watch: F1 Dutch GP — The Title Fight Comes Alive