Swearing Verstappen falls back into old Aggression-Patterns
**He fiercely criticizes and scolds, makes heavy accusations against his own team - and sees no reason for an apology. After the third Formula 1 race without a win, Max Verstappen is furious. The Formula-1 World Champion behaves aggressively and just like he did before his dominant years.
Max Verstappen showed no remorse for his outbursts, curses, and accusations towards his own team. The three-time Formula-1 World Champion had criticized Red Bull's strategy during the Hungarian Grand Prix and did not hold back his opinion in general. Words had to be bitten back.
His race engineer, in turn, had had enough of Verstappen's complaints towards the end of the race and indirectly called him childish over the radio. "I don't think we need to apologize," Verstappen said after the race: "I think we just need to do a better job." And he wasn't finished yet. "I don't know why people think you shouldn't be clear over the radio," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1 in England: "That's sport. If it doesn't suit someone, they should stay at home."
Moreover, the three-time champion and currently leading WM-front runner himself counts this behavior. In the penultimate race before the summer break, Verstappen, who is reported to have participated in a Sim-Racing race until late at night, made unusual mistakes. Shortly before the end, he collided with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes during an overtaking attempt and fell back to fifth place.
Falling back into old patterns
Both his parallel engagement at race weekends in Sim-Racing as well as his verbal disputes with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase are not new. What is new or at least unusual for Verstappen is that he is not the only competitive force at Red Bull. The McLaren, with which Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris achieved a double victory on the Hungaroring, is currently the faster car. Mercedes with Hamilton in third place is right behind and Ferrari is pressing.
And so Verstappen appears on the track again, just like he used to before his dominant period: aggressive and irritable, and no longer as controlled and untouchable. It will already be shown at the upcoming race weekend in Spa-Francorchamps - Verstappen's mother is Belgian - whether this is just a snapshot or the permanent state in the WM fight for the rest of the season.
Third race without a Verstappen win
"We need to work," Verstappen, who finished fifth in Budapest and constantly criticized his car and strategy during the race, said: "I don't think we'll have new upgrades on the car next weekend, so yes, that's a problem."
Verstappen now only leads by 76 points in the WM ranking on Lando Norris to his second home race at Spa on the coming Sunday, it is the last Grand Prix before the summer break in Formula 1. And Red Bull can use it well. Three races in a row without a win for Verstappen last happened three years ago.
In the Cutting Edge of Motorsport, Max Verstappen's team, Red Bull Racing, is facing challenges. Despite his fierce criticism towards his team following a third consecutive Formula 1 race without a win, Verstappen maintains his stance, echoing, "We just need to do a better job."
With Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes and other competitive teams hot on his heels, Verstappen seems to be reverting to his past aggressive and irritable behaviors on the track, as seen in the penultimate race before the summer break.
