Red Bull have brushed off concerns that staying up late to compete in an endurance sim-racing event affected Max Verstappen’s performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
This theory was raised on several occasions by Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft, as well as some others. The Dutchman was up racing until 3am the morning of Sunday’s race, limiting the amount of sleep he could get.
Verstappen is often vocal on the radio and heated exchanges with Gianpiero Lambiase are nothing new, but the three-time world champion was particularly irritable on Sunday. The Dutchman swore at his race engineer on multiple occasions, lambasting the strategy and drivability of the car, while also protesting multiple stewarding decisions.
Despite this behaviour, there is little concern within the Red Bull camp about Verstappen’s pre-race habits. “He was up even longer in Imola,” explained Helmut Marko. “I don’t know where the sleeping times came from again, and won the race.
“Max has a different rhythm to me or other people and the time he went to bed is nothing out of the ordinary for him. He didn’t even wake up at 10 o’clock in Zandvoort when the helicopters flew over his motorhome. He’s got his sleep quota. He’s had it as usual. That’s rubbish.”
This opinion was backed up by team principal Christian Horner, who added: “I think people draw conclusions, but Max knows what’s required and we trust his judgement on that.
“He knows what it takes to drive a Grand Prix car and to win Grands Prix and be a world champion. And look, as a team, we always work as a team, and whatever discussions of how to improve will always not take place through media.”
Verstappen was unapologetic when pressed about his aggressive radio communications. “I don’t think we need to apologise,” he fumed. “We just need to do a better job. I don’t know why people think you can’t be vocal on the radio. This is a sport. If some people don’t like that, stay home.”
The result of Verstappen’s messy weekend is that his championship lead over Lando Norris has been trimmed to 76 points. While that is still a considerable advantage, current form indicates that the McLaren driver should continue to make inroads as the season progresses.
Verstappen travels to Belgium winless in three Grands Prix, although his recent performances around the legendary corners of Spa-Francorchamps make this an excellent chance to end his drought.