Silverstone was a typical Red Bull race in mixed conditions. The first-class strategy department always stopped Max Verstappen at the right time and on the right tires. It is all the more remarkable that Verstappen could only finish the race in second place behind Lewis Hamilton. It is therefore not surprising that the world champion is by no means in high spirits when he appears in front of the microphones.
The fact that he has extended his lead in the Formula 1 World Championship to 84 points thanks to a late maneuver against Lando Norris is no consolation for Verstappen: “Yes, but we are too slow. We cannot win the championship like this until the end.” Things looked bad for Red Bull right from the start in Silverstone.
After damaging the underbody in qualifying, everything on Verstappen’s RB20 was actually repaired for the race. But he still couldn’t get going. At the start, he snatched third place from Norris, but he couldn’t keep up with the pace of the two leading Mercedes: “It didn’t look bad over one lap, but the race pace wasn’t there. I couldn’t keep up with the others because of the wear and tear.”
Verstappen bad from the start: A really bad afternoon
“We had, actually unexpectedly, very severe graining,” explains motorsport consultant Dr. Helmut Marko in an interview with ORF. “At times we were one to one and a half seconds slower.” Verstappen not only pulled away from both Mercedes cars. As is usual with such a surface disintegration of the tires, the problem got worse from lap to lap.
On lap 15, Verstappen had to let Norris go without resistance, and on lap 17, Oscar Piastri. After that, things got even worse when he had to go through a short rain shower with the damaged tires, which was not strong enough to change to intermediates. “I no longer had any confidence, the grip was completely gone,” complained Verstappen. “It didn’t feel comfortable. So I thought I’d just stay here and see if I could get through.”
When Carlos Sainz caught up with him, Verstappen began to doubt whether he would even make it into the top 5: “I just thought: Jesus, this is a really bad afternoon.” Marko said: “Normally ideal conditions for Max, but that’s where he lost the most.” Within ten laps, Norris pulled ahead by a full twelve seconds. Things only started to improve when the second rain shower came. This one was much heavier than the first and required a change to intermediate tires.
Red Bull strategy lifts Verstappen back into the race
Verstappen stopped on lap 26 and was the first man in the pits. “A very good call, then we were back in the race,” praised Marko. “That kept me in the race, actually,” said Verstappen himself. Two positions were gained, they were third again behind Norris and Lewis Hamilton. On the intermediate, Verstappen was at least able to maintain the gap, although not really reduce it.
Even when it stopped raining, Red Bull did everything right again. Verstappen stopped on lap 38, only three drivers had risked it earlier: “It was a bit risky, I wasn’t 100 percent sure if that was the right lap, but in the end it was.”
Much more importantly, 14 laps before the end, Red Bull put on the hard slick. Not the soft one, like many of their competitors. “It wasn’t good, only for four or five laps,” says Verstappen, praising the team. “That’s why we came second. It could have been much worse.”
Marko explains: “We knew we had to attack. That was clear from the times. Piastri also went on the medium, and the two were the two fastest in the field. Two more laps and it would have been fine.” On lap 48, Verstappen overtook Lando Norris, who was struggling on the soft, and started chasing the leader Lewis Hamilton. But he remained out of reach.
Damage limitation in Silverstone: Red Bull needs update
“His tyres had already started to grain slightly and we thought it would be OK, but that shows what a master he is,” said Marko Hamilton, paying tribute. “He can read a race and puts the tyres under the right conditions so that they don’t break.” Verstappen was 1.465 seconds behind in the end. One more lap and he would probably have been in Hamilton’s DRS window at least.
Therefore, Marko does not see the result as dramatic as Verstappen: “It was only the first stint.” But he cannot explain why the graining increased so quickly: “I don’t think it can be determined in retrospect.”
“We know where we need to catch up. We’re putting everything into the update that will come in Budapest,” swears Marko. Verstappen isn’t quite so relaxed: “Of course I’m happy that I’ve won a few points against Lando. But if it continues like this, it’s going to be a difficult season.”