Ex-F1 Driver Reveals Major “Trust Issue” at Red Bull over Max Verstappen factor
Karun Chandhok opened up on why Red Bull was struggling big time with their second driver while Max Verstappen was dominating the track.
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Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase (via Red Bull)
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Red Bull is currently facing a stern challenge from McLaren amid Max Verstappen‘s championship ambitions. Despite his meteoric late-season comeback, Verstappen is trailing the title lead by 49 points following Lando Norris‘ sublime victory at the Brazil GP. Moreover, the second driver problem at Milton Keynes continues even after repeated attempts by Yuki Tsunoda to excel on track. As such, ex-F1 driver Karun Chandhok talks about the ‘trust issue’ in the team between the two drivers.
Yuki Tsunoda has failed to come any close to Max Verstappen in terms of performance on track. The ‘career killer’ in the 28-year-old has kept up with race wins and has emerged as the sole point scorer for the team. Notably, Verstappen has achieved over 341 points from the 366 total for the team as a whole. As such, despite repeated attempts by the team and even Tsunoda, the second driver problem has continued.
Now, Karun Chandhok believes that this is one of the major reasons behind the team’s failure in recent years. The 41-year-old confidently claimed that the team was strung by the fact that they were a one-man team, and it was Max Verstappen doing everything in terms of results for the team. Chandhok recalled the Brazilian weekend and how the sprint format meant that the team needed both drivers to maximize information over the single practice session.
I get the sense this is where they’re [Red Bull] hamstrung by the fact they’re a one-car team, Because if you came to a weekend like Brazil, where you only have one practice session, and you got a few options in terms of packages and setups and updates to try, if you are two equal drivers, as McLaren do, you could put one on one car, one on the other car, and you can compare the data.
Karun Chandhok said via Sky Sports F1.
McLaren was able to capitalize on gaining information on their challenger’s weaknesses and strengths because of both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris maximizing results. Karun Chandhok insisted that with such a massive difference in results between the two drivers at Red Bull, they feared having a trust issue. The team couldn’t determine whether Yuki Tsunoda’s woeful form was due to driver errors or issues in the challenger.
The problem is, when there’s such a gulf between the two drivers, as Red Bull have got, they can’t really trust whether the information is the driver or the car that’s creating this gap.
Karun Chandhok added.
Karun Chandhok reveals how Red Bull can tackle the second driver problem
The 2026 season will have a completely new set of regulations, as Yuki Tsunoda will likely be snubbed by the team. Milton Keynes will start the year afresh, especially with their new team principal, Laurent Mekies. The Frenchman has already made great improvements within the team and their challenger, and his expertise will surely come in handy in the coming season. As such, Karun Chandhok reveals the ideal conditions that will help the Austrian constructor bounce back from their current issues.
Karun Chandhok reiterated that the second driver problem and the lack of data on their current challenger were indeed the issues currently. As such, the team must think about it in the coming seasons if they seriously want an out from the struggles.
Chandok highlighted that in the upcoming year, the team will surely keep on bringing in upgrades all the time. However, the Indian highlighted that Red Bull must have two drivers constantly providing data on the car, else they could fail in results again.
So this is where it’s really creating an issue for them, and I think it’s something to think about going forward, Next year, new rules, they’re going to bring updates all the time. They need two drivers; otherwise, their development will fall behind.
Karun Chandhok noted.
The 2025 season still has three races to go as Max Verstappen keeps chipping away ever so slightly at the championship lead. Certainly, the team and the drivers would love to put the entire year behind them and start on a completely new note in the coming season
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