From understeer to oversteer: Former drivers see what troubles Verstappen in Silverstone

Verstappen was vocal about the handling of his car on Friday. He mentioned issue with the balance of the RB21. Christijan Albers, speaking on Viaplay's program VROOOOOM, understands his frustration and emphasises that Verstappen likes an aggressive front end, but he is hampered by understeer through the fast corners at Silverstone.

According to Giedo van der Garde, the problem is even more complex than that. "It's understeer, understeer, understeer. Then he comes to the next corner, turns in, and suddenly he has oversteer, and then understeer again," he says.

"That car is absolutely nowhere, it's really a disaster," he added.

Indy Dontje also observes how Verstappen loses speed. He points out that many corners are full throttle and that as a driver you want to have as little 'steer input' as possible.

“Because that also slows you down. The more you steer, the more resistance you have."

Van der Garde furthermore notes that Red Bull hardly comes up with solutions. "Every time they bring something new, it's very small steps. The rest of the teams immediately go much faster."

Yet, according to Albers, it's too early for conclusions. The former F1 driver expects that Red Bull has not yet used their up the potential of their engine.

"We all know that they are driving with less engine power,” he says. He emphasises that at Silverstone, this can make a big difference. “Here, that's really about four tenths."

Additionally, the team can often find a lot of time as they set the car up for the qualifying. "Red Bull is known for making the most progress from Friday to Saturday in terms of setup."

Dontje adds: "Now you also understand that they make the most progress because they start from a very poor starting point."

However, he is less convinced than before. "I thought that Red Bull couldn't make that step anymore at the last race.”

Van der Garde thinks he knows why: "Of course, that was because Gianpiero Lambiase was not there. Max had a different engineer." According to him, Verstappen's regular race engineer could make a difference again this weekend.