Bad News for Dutch Fans: “Verstappen’s Dominance Is Over”

Former Formula 1 driver Christijan Albers believes Max Verstappen has spoiled Dutch fans with his performances in recent years. Speaking after the Brazilian Grand Prix, Albers says the public has grown too used to Verstappen’s dominance, even though that era has already ended.

Verstappen started from the pit lane last weekend and turned that into a third-place finish. It was another display of sheer class from the Dutchman, but according to Albers, fans shouldn’t take that level of performance for granted.

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“Verstappen Is No Longer Dominant”

“That’s the beauty of racing. Of course, it was frustrating, but at the same time it’s good to see. It reminds viewers that it isn’t always easy,” Albers said on De Telegraaf’s F1 podcast. “We’ve been spoiled over the years. Verstappen and Red Bull were so dominant that they could have fitted wet tyres on a dry track and still been competitive. That dominance is gone now, that era is over. You can finally see that car setup doesn’t just fall into place.”

“It’s always a gamble in qualifying, and this weekend was the perfect example. They went in a completely different direction, and it turned out disastrous. After the sprint race, they went back to their old setup. In that sprint, he was competitive with the Mercedes cars. If your qualifying is a disaster and the car just doesn’t work, do you risk changing everything again for the race, or do you stick with what worked in the sprint?”

What If Verstappen Had Qualified Better?

Although Verstappen started from the pit lane, he had originally qualified only sixteenth. Albers believes that a better qualifying session might have changed Red Bull’s decisions. “It depends. If he’d qualified higher up, he’d have had a better setup in the first place. Performance in qualifying and long runs are two completely different worlds. You have to find a compromise.”

“One thing is certain: qualifying performance was poor. Normally, the Red Bull–Max combination extracts that extra bit of grip from new tyres. The McLarens, on the other hand, build up momentum like a train. In every qualifying session, Max manages to get just a little more out of the tyres. Why? Nobody really knows.”

With his podium in Brazil, Verstappen closed the gap to Oscar Piastri by five points. The Red Bull driver now sits third in the championship, 25 points behind the Australian.