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frederic vasseur sees verstappen making mistakes

Vasseur sees Verstappen under pressure: 'Starting to make mistakes'

27 May at 09:58
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  • Corwin Kunst

Frederic Vasseur noted after the Monaco Grand Prix that Max Verstappen has started making more mistakes in recent weeks than in the past three seasons combined. According to the Ferrari team boss, it is the result of his team - and McLaren - increasingly breathing down Red Bull Racing 's neck.

Vasseur has indicated many times this season that when Red Bull can be put under pressure, they will make mistakes. In Imola, Verstappen had his hands full with Lando Norris in the McLaren and in Monaco the Dutchman could not hold his own, making a mistake in his final run in Q3. According to the Ferrari team boss, is this proof that he was right?

"No, I don't want to draw any conclusions about this weekend, but if you look at the last two or three weekends, I think Max made more mistakes in Imola than in the last three seasons. If you can stay in your comfort zone every time with the strategy and everything else, you don't make mistakes. They were in that situation, but now they have to push more," Vasseur said.

The Frenchman is under no illusions, however, and is convinced that Red Bull will not let a couple of lesser weekends get them down. "They will come back though, I'm not worried about that. They will be back quickly and be strong."

Canada in a fortnight

Racing will take place in Canada in a fortnight' time, on a semi-street circuit in Montreal. The speeds there will be a lot higher and so it is not comparable to Monaco. At the same time, the two tracks do have some similarities, as at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve too, the kerbs are high and the walls are close.

"And you also do have low-speed corners, so some corners are similar to Monaco. But overall, if you look at how we performed in Melbourne, we did well in Imola, in Miami we also went well. With different tyre compounds, different types of tarmac and different layouts, we did quite well. I think it will remain exciting until the end," Vasseur said.

This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.