Max Verstappen’s father makes Red Bull demand after claiming ‘dominance has come to an end’

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Max Verstappen’s father has said that Red Bull’s “period of dominance has come to an end” and urged the team to make changes after a disappointing Monaco Grand Prix.

Verstappen, seeking a fourth consecutive world title, finished only sixth in Monte Carlo, while teammate Sergio Perez crashed out of the race.

The Dutchman still leads the Drivers’ Championship standings by a distance from Charles Leclerc, but Red Bull’s monopoly in the Constructors’ competition appears to be at an end.

Christian Horner’s team have dominated each of the last two seasons in the sport yet are being pushed hard by Ferrari and a rapidly-improving McLaren this campaign.

And Jos Verstappen believes that there are issues that his son’s team need to solve.

“For sure there will be other tracks where Red Bull will do well again, but I am very curious [to see] how they will solve these problems,” the former F1 driver told De Telegraaf.

“They will have to do something about it, understand where certain difficulties come from. Meanwhile, it is clear that McLaren and Ferrari are getting closer and closer.

“Max has been good at hiding some of the problems, but you can see how big the difference is between him and his team-mate.

“It seems to me that Red Bull’s period of dominance has come to an end.”

Red Bull’s season has faced difficulty away from the track, with Horner denying allegations of inappropriate behaviour and Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey set to leave the team next year.

Verstappen bemoaned his car’s troubles after qualifying in Monaco, suggesting that improvements must be made to avoid other teams “catching up”.

“The car is like a go-kart,” the three-time world champion said. “It is like I am running without a suspension. The amount of times I almost jumped into the wall in the final corner was pretty incredible.

“We have had this problem since 2022 so it is not something new. For the past few years we have had a car advantage so it gets masked, but with everyone catching up, when you don’t improve your weakest point you get found out.

“And it is a fundamental problem so it will not get fixed in weeks. The last two or three races have been incredibly difficult, but this kind of track is the worst-case scenario for us.”