Windsor not surprised by Verstappen's mistake: 'History teaches that'

Verstappen was fastest in F1 qualifying on Friday but lost that pole again. Indeed, the Dutchman had exceeded the track limits in the penultimate corner and therefore will not start from pole, but from P6.

''It is true for many sports and it is certainly true for Formula 1,'' Windsor begins his analysis on his YouTube channel after the race. ''History shows that when you clinch a Constructor's and Driver's championship and there are still races to run, it's very very difficult to sustain the same level of intensity.''

Did Red Bull and Verstappen let it slip?

''Red Bull did a pretty good job going into Austin. There is no development, of course, on the car, but why would there be? They are only thinking of 2024 at this point,'' continued the former Williams team manager. According to Windsor, Red Bull did everything right. Verstappen was fast at the start of FP1, drove a good long run and was also the fastest in the qualifying simulation, so everything was ready to take pole position.

''It all came down to Max having to do a pole lap on his last run in Q3. How many times have we seen that this year and he's always delivered? On this occasion, he locked up slightly going into turn one, the uphill left-hander, no real problem, however.'' Things then went wrong for Verstappen at the penultimate corner, where he just crossed the white line with four wheels, losing his lap.

A rare mistake from Verstappen, but the F1 analyst believes it was a logical consequence of the fact that Red Bull and Verstappen are already world champions. When asked if the competitors' chances of scoring victories in the remainder of the season are now greater: "The answer, of course, was always going to be 'yes'.''