Why is Verstappen struggling to overtake? Horner explains

F1 News

Overtaking is no longer a given with Verstappen
23 July at 16:00
20
  • Jeroen Immink

Max Verstappen had a frustrating weekend at the Hungaroring. On a narrow circuit, Red Bull struggled to overtake, leading to the Dutchman losing time. Letting Mercedes and Ferrari undercut them turned out to be a mistake by the Austrian team because of dirty air, team principal Christian Horner acknowledged.

In 2022, Verstappen even won the race in Hungary from P10 and later in Belgium from P14. This Grand Prix however, Red Bull letting the other teams undercut them in a narrow circuit proved to be difficult for the Dutchman to manage. He also voiced his concern over the team radio. Team principal Christian Horner has explained what went wrong with Red Bull's strategy.

What makes overtaking more difficult for Verstappen?

According to Horner, the dirty air in Hungary was a decisive factor. "It was very hard to follow in the dirty air today, probably more so than we expected. Obviously at the start he made a position. We felt that it was a racing incident. Three had got into the corner, naturally ran out of the road and under the let them race mantra…we thought it looked okay, but as soon as it goes to the stewards at that point, the feeling is that you're probably going to get a penalty. So that's why we conceded the place back to Lando [Norris]. Then you're really in the dirty air," the Briton revealed.

With that, Horner says Red Bull simply underestimated the dirty air compared to the other teams. "A frustrating race. I think when you look at the race plot now, ifs, buts, and maybes. I think probably the thing we underestimated was how tricky it was in the dirty air. It was that section of the race there that did the most damage."

Verstappen has now failed to win three races in a row. The last time that happened to the Dutchman was in 2021. That year, he did become world champion.