Max Verstappen has refuted claims made by his father, Jos Verstappen, that the driver’s inputs were not being listened to early in the season, and that led to the current situation where Red Bull is struggling. At the weekend in Monza, prior to the start of the free practice sessions, Jos had been quoted saying that the Dutch driver had been complaining about these same issues to the team for a long time but had not been listened to.

Red Bull’s season has done a complete role reversal in 2024, as the team started the year strong but has been struggling ever since McLaren brought its first major upgrade to Miami. Before that, Verstappen had been on a roll, and except for a loss in the Australian GP where he had to retire, the driver had a clean slate.
Since then, however, there’s been a systematic breakdown at Red Bull as the competition has continued to make progress while the Austrian team struggles. It all came to a head first in Zandvoort when Lando Norris beat Verstappen by a whopping 20-second margin. What followed was even worse, as Red Bull had the fourth-fastest car in Monza.

After the race in Monza, Max Verstappen was questioned by the media on whether the team had not been listening to him. The driver refuted these claims and said there was no such thing. He stated that it’s hard to make improvements in F1 and that they don’t happen overnight. Verstappen told the media, including Sportskeeda:

“There is definitely listening, but it is difficult to find a solution. We are checking things, but that will take longer. It’s not like after the summer break I thought, ‘Now all of a sudden things are going well’. We just need time to test and evaluate. It’s just unfortunately taking a bit longer than we want.”
The driver also pointed out that early in the season, post Miami, the team did manage to win a few races, but even then the car was just not on the mark. He said:

“Back then, we already won a few races we really shouldn’t have won. As long as the urgency is there now, that’s very important. And that’s there now I think.”
What Max Verstappen’s father had said about the team not listening to the driver
Max Verstappen’s father, Jos Verstappen, had claimed that there was a level of lackadaisical approach that had crept into how Red Bull approached things. He claimed that the team ignored the issues that Max had raised a few months ago, and now that the team has realized it, it is too late. He told racingnews365:

“At the beginning of the season where you then win races, then of course it all feels right, but he also said then that the balance is not right. Of course, that was not brought out at the time. They then try to keep that inside. He complained about the balance there too.”
He added:

“Max actually complained about it about three months ago. Only they didn’t really believe it, or they didn’t really see it. Now you’re actually a bit too late.”
Max Verstappen currently leads Lando Norris in the championship by 62 points. While the gap is big, it might not be this big for long if Red Bull turns up with the fourth-fastest car on the grid in Baku.