Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has asserted that Max Verstappen is making more errors than “over the last three seasons” in Formula 1 with Red Bull under pressure.
Red Bull entered this season having dominated the sport since the return to ground effect cars in 2022, triumphing in all but one race last term as it retained its titles.
But while Verstappen and Red Bull continue to lead both championships, both Ferrari and McLaren have delivered upgrades that’ve helped them win races this month.
Red Bull wasn’t in contention amid a troubling weekend in Monaco as Ferrari won to cement Vasseur’s prior view that rivals can capitalise on the champion’s troubles.
Verstappen has been unsettled with Red Bull’s RB20 across the last three rounds and was under intense pressure at Imola despite edging out Lando Norris’ McLaren.
With Verstappen ruining his last Q3 run in Monte Carlo via a brush with the barrier, Vasseur believes the Dutchman is more prone to slip-ups now he has to push more.
Asked about his earlier comments on Red Bull becoming more vulnerable with more pressure applied, Vasseur replied: “I don’t want to draw any conclusions on this weekend, but if you have a look on the last two hours of the weekend, I think Max made more mistakes in the Imola or went out more in Imola than over the last three seasons.
“I think that as soon as they have to push more, if you stay in your comfort zone for the strategy, you don’t do mistakes and I think they were in this situation.”
Red Bull’s woes in Monaco derived from struggles with riding the kerbs, prompting Verstappen to reveal it had been a recurring issue disguised due to its dominance.
Asked whether he was shocked Red Bull had shown weaknesses, Vasseur said: “We just didn’t see them, it became evident because they hadn’t been forced to go to the limit.
“I think last year they had a very decent gap that sometimes we were able to fight with them for the quali. But in the race average it was four or five tenths.
“That means that when you have four or five tenths of difference. You are not really at risk.
“I think it was Jeddah where Max started P9 last year and after three laps he was leading. They had this comfort but everything could happen.
“Even on the strategy that Max pitted in Austria in the last lap to do the fastest lap, it means that on the strategy they had one pit stop of gap.
“And in these conditions, even if you do a mistake, it’s transparent. This season it’s not the case anymore.
“It’s not the case with us but it’s not the case between Red Bull and McLaren because McLaren is closer and from this fight we have to get the best.”
However, Vasseur has backed Red Bull to rebound from a tough outing in Monte Carlo, which saw Verstappen come home sixth as Sergio Perez retired on the first lap.
“Now we don’t have to draw any conclusion that I think they will be back, they will be back soon and they will be strong,” he continued.
“I’m not considering at all that everything will be easy until the end. Canada you have some, it’s probably almost the opposite as Monaco in terms of speed and force but you have also the characteristic of the kerbs with a lot of low speed corners, chicane and so on, some corners similar to Monaco.
“But overall we were performing in Melbourne, that we did well in Imola, in Miami with different type of compound, different type of tarmac, different layout.
“It will be tight until the end. I think for sure some cars will fit more with some tracks.”
