Max Verstappen reveals his secret to unlocking Red Bull’s full potential

10:22, 31 Jul

Updated: 12:12, 31 Jul

byHidde Korte

This year, Max Verstappen has often had to push beyond his car’s limits to maximize his results. On the Ford Performance podcast, the Dutchman explained how he strives to get the most out of his car, despite the challenges.

Max Verstappen is certainly a one-of-a-kind driver, capable of extracting the maximum from his car even when it’s not on par with the competition.

Take this year, for example: despite his RB21 often being outmatched by Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’s MCL39, the Dutchman has frequently been in contention for poles and podiums.

Verstappen was asked by host Chris Harris how he approaches corners. Harris drew and asked Verstappen for his secret: ''You have to always commit to the entry of the corner.''

''But again, it's a balance because if you commit too hard on entry, it will probably oversteer or understeer and then you have no exit. So it's like you have to feel what you can do on entry to then of course pick up throttle nicely again on the exit.''

Max Verstappen in Spa-Francorchamps

Verstappen also delved further into the track knowledge, which is essential to know where the limit of the car lies: ''Honestly, it's very hard to know where your advantage is going to be. Because at the end of the day, also as a driver, if you're in a fun, unfortunately, the cars are not the same.''

''So, you're sometimes just a bit limited with the car that you got. So for example, I know with the car that I got at the moment, we are quite good in the high speeds.''

He finally added: ''I know that's where I can get a bit of my advantage. But I also know that in the low speed, maybe it's a bit more difficult, so that is where you then need try not lose too much time.''

''You need to find the the optimum balance but then again some tracks have a lot of high speed corners some don't, so then it's like how I can still extract the most out of the car that we got.''

Verstappen looks forward to the Hungarian GP

The Hungaroring is a tight and narrow circuit. Verstappen is looking ahead to the weekend, emphasizing that qualifying will be crucial due to the difficulty of overtaking. Since Red Bull tends to excel on tracks with fast corners, the upcoming race presents a challenge for the Dutchman, who will be marking his 200th Grand Prix for Red Bull in Hungary.