Max Verstappen Red Bull criticism: World champion told to defend team
Max Verstappen was unhappy with his Red Bull in Hungary.
Max Verstappen’s furious radio complaints that his Red Bull RB22 was “completely ****ed” have drawn criticism from one of his staunchest supporters, Christijan Albers.
The former F1 driver turned commentator believes Verstappen should be defending Red Bull, not publicly criticising his team even in the heat of the moment.
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Verstappen’s complaints about Red Bull’s downshifts have become the norm during Grand Prix weekends as he has faced significant challenges with downshifting.
“Please do something about these shifts. And don’t tell me it’s me shifting later,” he complained to his race engineer GianPiero Lambiase in Hungary.
But it didn’t stop there.
“The car is completely ****ed,” declared Verstappen over the team radio.
Despite his complaints about his RB22, Verstappen raced from fourth on the grid to second at the chequered flag to record his fourth podium of the season.
“I don’t know the hell we got second today,” he told Red Bull over the team radio. “It is unbelievable.”
Verstappen later told the media, including PlanetF1.com: “I was just like, ‘How the hell did I end up here?’ That was it for me. I was shocked. I’m actually still shocked.”
He added: “We need to first find more overall performance. Then we need to fix our problems, where we sometimes just lose performance over a weekend, or even from the start of the race to the end. So, yeah, that is also actually a big priority.”
His criticism of his team and its RB22 hasn’t gone down well with Dutch pundit Albers.
A staunch supporter of Verstappen, the former F1 driver feels the four-time world champion can at times be too critical.
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“There are many positive sides to Max, but there are also negative sides to Max,” Albers told De Telegraaf. “Sometimes I watch certain interviews and wonder about them.
“There are 22 drivers who want to have the best car and want to win. On the other hand, I can also appreciate that he is so open and honest.
“He says: ‘I don’t like this and I don’t like that’.
“How do you manage that properly?
“I think he is so focused on himself in that respect that he no longer realises those other 21 drivers also want to win and become world champion.
“Not everyone has the best car, but on the other hand, you can also appreciate his attitude.”
He feels Verstappen could do more to defend his team, rather than lead the criticism.
“I do think that a little bit as well,” Albers admitted.
“You can see it with Adrian Newey too – you cannot simply create a basic package from nothing. You have to work with the material you have.
“I can understand that you become frustrated if they are not moving in the direction you have in mind.
“On the other hand, there are a thousand people working at the factory and perhaps seven hundred of them want to move in the same direction as you.”
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