Jos Verstappen doesn't believe Horner can turn things around at Red Bull
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- Corwin Kunst
The whole season has been unsettled at Red Bull Racing, but the tension seems to be increasing again after the Dutch Grand Prix. Jos Verstappen already revealed that the Austrian racing team should "take a look in the mirror" and even states to Bild that he is not confident of a turnaround at the moment.
A second place at Zandvoort, looking purely at the numbers, might not be so bad. In the four races before that, they did not win either, but that is not the mentality they have in the Verstappen family. Besides, the gap to Lando Norris after 72 laps was just under 23 seconds. McLaren brought back updates and they seemed to work, while Verstappen went back to an older specification of his RB20.
Jos Verstappen believes there is a lack of self-reflection at Red Bull Racing. "Not everything should be glossed over," the former Formula 1 driver is stern. "It is time - if it is not already too late - to take a critical look at ourselves. Good people are leaving the team. I am very dissatisfied with what is happening. You can't sugarcoat it, the situation is serious. Max is not happy with a car like this. It is now up to Horner to get the team back on track."
How much confidence does Jos have in Horner?
Verstappen sr. was at odds with the same Horner earlier this season. The two are now back on speaking terms, but things need to improve (or change) at Red Bull. With nine race weekends to go, Max Verstappen is defending a 70-point lead, but he is doing so in a car that is much slower than McLaren's MCL38.
Asked by BILD whether he is confident that Horner can initiate a turnaround in the team, Jos says: "It will surprise me, but at the moment I say no. A lot has to happen. The whole spirit has to change."
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton