Jos Verstappen has declared his son Max will only be satisfied if Red Bull produces a championship-contending car in 2018, after a difficult first half to this season.
The Dutchman has only scored a single podium and failed to finish in half of the 10 races so far, leaving him a lowly sixth in the Drivers’ Championship fending off the Force Indias and with less than half the points of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who sits fourth in the standings.
It has been quite the slump after his remarkable rise since joining the senior team at last year’s Spanish Grand Prix and his father admits the retirements and a lack of competitiveness have had an impact on the 19-year-old.
“At the moment Max cannot do anything. He is doing everything right, and he feels good in his skin, but he just wants to win,” Jos claimed.
“That’s what you notice about Max. The disappointment that he cannot win, which is why he has had some problems. He has never experienced that before.”
It is not an experience the Verstappen’s are keen to remain in for long however and with earlier speculation linking Max to Ferrari for 2019, Jos admits the desire to remain loyal could be tested if Red Bull doesn’t improve.
“Max wants to become a champion and he will do anything to win,” the former Benetton driver said. “Right now he does not have such an opportunity, but he uses this year to become stronger.
“Next year, it is clear what our goals are,” he added. “We want to win and if this does not happen, the situation will become more complicated.”
While that is next year, his current team boss Christian Horner, who has had to deal with an equally frustrated Carlos Sainz at Toro Rosso in recent weeks, has praised the way Verstappen has handled this year’s difficulties.
“I think he has shown tremendous maturity, to be honest with you,” Horner told Motorsport.com.
“He’s had a flair of emotion at the time, but very quickly he’s got himself under control and focused on the next event.
“It’s been a bit of character building for him.
“I think he’ll come out the other side a stronger person with this being a difficult part in his very short career so far. But he has dealt with it very, very well.
At the British Grand Prix, a run of three consecutive DNF’s came to an end as he came home fourth, having battled the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
“It was pleasing to see him take the chequered flag because the last three races, he’s been in great positions and in all three races and it hasn’t gone his way,” Horner commented.
“Now we need to start to keep building on that.
“Hungary represents hopefully a chance of a good result for us so we need to build on what we achieved over the [Silverstone] weekend.”
