Breaking news
Formula 1
Webber says Verstappen is "flaky" on GP weekends
Mark Webber says Max Verstappen's "flaky" approach to grand prix weekends is putting pressure on the Red Bull Racing squad.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Edited: Aug 23, 2017, 11:06 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
In a mid-season review piece for Red Bull in Australia, the former RBR driver claimed that the Dutchman has been "going off the road a lot" during Friday and Saturday running.
While labelling the performance flaky, Webber did concede that Verstappen's points deficit to teammate Daniel Ricciardo was down to mechanical failures rather than mistakes on race day.
"Both of the [Red Bull Racing] guys have driven well this year, but Max has probably been a bit flaky in terms of the build-up to the races through the weekend," said Webber.
"He's been going off the road a lot on Friday and Saturday, which puts pressure on mechanics getting the car ready. I'd like to see him on the road a bit more, but he's pushing the limits.
"When it comes to Sundays, he hasn't made many mistakes at all, it's been a lot of high-profile reliability retirements where he's lost a truckload of points, so that's been hard for him to swallow."
Webber added that Ricciardo is the most reliable driver in the sport, and has made the most of an underperforming RBR package.
"Daniel is just so solid on Sunday afternoons, he's the most reliable driver in F1 in that you know what he's going to deliver week-in, week-out," he said.
"He's always got the most out of what they've given him and it's hard to see how he could have done much more.
"We all expected such great things from this car this year, but it came out the box very poorly. They had a lot of catching up to do.
"With Renault [engines], it's unfortunately a little bit of a broken record, 'we haven't got this, we haven't got that' – it's been going on for five years. [Red Bull] have to make a car a second faster than everyone else, maybe."
Hamilton best qualifier, Alonso best racer
Webber's assessment of the F1 field also concluded that Lewis Hamilton is the best qualifier since Ayrton Senna.
"Both he and [Sebastian Vettel] have driven awesome this year, and Lewis particularly in qualifying has been very strong," he said. "He's the best since Senna over one lap – he's very special on Saturdays."
As for Alonso, Webber said the Spaniard is still the best racer on the grid: "It's been a big shame for Formula 1, a big shame for Honda, a big shame for McLaren.
"They loaded their guns up and got Fernando back there waiting for the engine to fire, but it hasn't happened.
"He's been biting his tongue for the last 24 months, and he can't drive the thing any harder. His stock is still incredible, and on Sundays he's probably the best in the world. That's the frustrating bit."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article McLaren faces engine dilemma as Honda gets Ilmor boost
Next article McLaren confirms Vandoorne for 2018 season
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Andrew van Leeuwen
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Supercars parity review begins
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars parity review begins
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
GT World Challenge Australia
GT World Challenge Australia
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
More from
Max Verstappen
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP
More from
Red Bull Racing
FIA reveals latest ADUO results in final review of 2026 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 3 h
FIA reveals latest ADUO results in final review of 2026 F1 season
Laurent Mekies: Liam Lawson’s fate has nothing to do with me
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
6 h
Laurent Mekies: Liam Lawson’s fate has nothing to do with me
Latest news
F1 2026 calendar update: Imola GP off the table, no plan B if war escalates
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
6 min
F1 2026 calendar update: Imola GP off the table, no plan B if war escalates
A fond farewell to a few WEC favourites
WEC
Monza
A fond farewell to a few WEC favourites
Sebastien Loeb tests again as Project Rally One submits WRC homologation papers
WRC
WRC WRC 1 h
Sebastien Loeb tests again as Project Rally One submits WRC homologation papers
Valentino Rossi in new autobiography: '2015 still hurts, Marc Marquez wanted me to lose'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
1 h
Valentino Rossi in new autobiography: '2015 still hurts, Marc Marquez wanted me to lose'
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe