Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has questioned Max Verstappen after he saw his championship lead reduced for a third consecutive race ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Verstappen surprisingly lost three points to Lando Norris at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, so leads the Drivers’ Championship by 59 points with seven events remaining.
Norris started down in 15th, nine places behind Verstappen, but used the alternative strategy of starting on the hard tyres and switching to the mediums to reel in a 15-second deficit to Verstappen after his pit stop, and overtook him to finish in fourth.
Although Verstappen covered the inside into the first corner, he could not do anything about the charging Norris with three laps remaining and the momentum is firmly with McLaren going into the Singapore Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1.
“Max for the last few races sounds downbeat. He’s not even feisty in the race and doesn’t fight that hard,” said 1997 F1 world champion Villeneuve.
“Even on the radio, we barely hear him. Something has changed.
“He knows the car isn’t driving as he wants and his team-mate was a lot quicker than him.”
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A potentially huge moment in the championship as Norris passes title rival Verstappen and finishes in P4 after starting the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in P15
Verstappen: We paid the price for set-up changes
Verstappen started in sixth and was set to finish behind Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez for the first time this season, until the Mexican collided with Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap.
Red Bull changed Verstappen’s car set-up significantly before qualifying on Saturday, which contributed to his lack of pace compared to Perez.
“It was quite a difficult race. After qualifying I don’t think the final change was the right one,” said Verstappen.
“We paid the price for that. It was as simple as that because if you look at Checo he had a much better race. It seemed like he was more comfortable. From our side, we tried something else and it didn’t work out. You win and lose as a team.
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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz reflects on all the big talking points from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
“Of course, I’m not happy with the performance. Sometimes you make some final changes before qualifying and it works, unfortunately this time it didn’t.”
Verstappen has scored just one podium in the last five races as Red Bull appear to have been outdeveloped by their rivals.
It is a complete contrast to last season when he won a record-breaking 19 races. He was also on the podium at every race apart from the Singapore Grand Prix.
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Race highlights from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Singapore was the outlier for Red Bull in 2023 as they struggled with the kerbs and were unable to get the car in the right operating window.
Sky Sports F1‘s Bernie Collins would not be a surprised to see a similar scenario this weekend for Verstappen and Perez.
“I don’t think Singapore is the best track for them to bounce back but maybe they have changed something since last year,” she said.
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“What a difference for Red Bull and Verstappen to say ‘we are making last-minute changes going into qualifying’. We haven’t heard that from him.
“He’s not fully on top of the car. Initially coming into the weekend, they said it [the issues] were Monza specific and low downforce, but it still existed in Baku.”
What has caused Red Bull’s drop in performance?
One reason for Red Bull’s struggles is the correlation from the wind tunnel to the track, which has put the team on the wrong development path. The car also has a narrow operating window and looks hard to drive when it is not in the sweet spot.
In Baku, Verstappen was fastest in Q2 but visibly unhappy with the car a few minutes later in Q3, and those difficulties continued into the race on Sunday.
Perez was in the lead battle behind Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, so proved Red Bull had pace in the car with the right set-up.
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Watch new angles of Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez’s dramatic collision and aftermath as they tangled at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
“I think Checo found a good rhythm and set-up. Checo’s car was very quick. We might have introduced some things on Max’s car that didn’t work as well,” explained team principal Christian Horner.
“We probably damaged the tyres a lot fighting in that group for such a long period of time. If you look at George Russell’s stint, he started slowly then built into it. Really frustrating.”
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Horner say Perez ‘deserved a lot more’ after his crash with Sainz
Red Bull are not at the top of the Constructors’ Championship for the first time in 55 races, dating back to the 2022 Miami Grand Prix.
McLaren are 20 points in front of Red Bull and currently have the faster car.
“There’s still a lot of racing to do. It was a magnificent race at the front for so many laps,” said Horner.
“It was great to be in it. It was exciting to be a part of, just disappointing it came to a close like that when it didn’t need to.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Singapore GP schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Singapore Grand Prix
Thursday September 19
12pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday September 20
8.15am: F1 Academy Practice
10am: Singapore GP Practice One (session starts 10.30am)
11.55am: F1 Academy Qualifying
1.45pm: Singapore GP Practice Two (session starts 2pm)
3.15pm: The F1 Show
Saturday September 21
8am: F1 Academy Race One
10.15am: Singapore GP Practice Three (session starts 10.30am)
1pm: Singapore GP Qualifying build-up
2pm: SINGAPORE GP QUALIFYING*
4pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday September 22
8.30am: F1 Academy Race Two
11:30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Singapore GP build-up
1pm: The SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
3pm: Chequered Flag: Singapore GP reaction
4pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s thrilling 2024 season continues live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend with more stunning street circuit action, this time under the lights at the Singapore Grand Prix. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime