Jos Verstappen makes sensational Red Bull claim after Monaco woe

Jos Verstappen, father of three-time F1 world champion, Max Verstappen, has made a bold claim about Red Bull in 2024

Red Bull has been the dominant team in F1 for the last two years since the ground effect regulations of 2022. The team enjoyed its most dominant season to date in 2023. Reigning world champion, Max Verstappen ended the season with 575 points and won 19 out of 23 races.

It was widely expected that Red Bull would dominate again in 2024, sealing another championship. Although Verstappen won five out of the first eight races, Ferrari and McLaren have increased their pace from upgrade packages, applying pressure on Red Bull.

Ferrari with Carlos Sainz in Australia, McLaren with Lando Norris in Miami, and most recently, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at Monaco all took victory from the Dutchman.

Verstappen struggled in Monaco and just managed to place himself sixth after an uneventful race. The gap between Leclerc and Verstappen has been reduced to 31 points, showing signs of a closer fight.

Verstappen Sr’s claims

Jos Verstappen, reflecting on recent performances, made comments regarding the drop off in Red Bull’s performance. As reported by Planet F1, Verstappen told Dutch publication De Telegraaf: “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.

“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.”

Verstappen Sr then made the bold claim that he believes Red Bull’s dominance is now over, given the amount of victories lost in the last few races:

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

Verstappen said Red Bull is a “very tough” team to beat when asked if he thought there would now be a title fight this year: “Being at the front for quite a few years and as a team, the way we operate, I think it can make a difference to teams that are trying to chase that.

“We just try to stay calm and collected, we know that over the last few races teams have been catching up or have beaten us, so of course we want to try and improve as well.”

“But I do think with the experience that we’ve had over the last few years, it makes us a very tough team to beat in a Championship, because we don’t make many mistakes.”

With these recent claims from Verstappen Sr, and Chief Technical Officer, departing the team at the end of the season, Red Bull seems to have some difficult times ahead of them. But for now, the team remains at the top of the standings, being the main contender for the title.

Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool/Getty Images