Exclusive | Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok speaks on 'perfectionist' Max Verstappen and Red Bull ahead of 2024 season's final stretch

Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen may not be dominating the Formula 1 championship in 2024, but former F1 driver Karun Chandhok believes that Verstappen is not feeling the pressure from his competitors and instead it’s the feeling of frustration that’s getting the better of the Dutchman. Verstappen leads the overall drivers’ standings with 393 points, having clinched eight victories. He is 62 points ahead of second-placed Lando Norris of McLaren with 331 points (Three victories). Last season, Verstappen was ruthlessly dominant, winning his third consecutive F1 title with 575 points. That was 290 points more than his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez (285 points).

“Oh thank god, yeah. I mean, we’ve had two years of Max’s dominance, and I think we’ve all been getting a little bit bored of that frankly. When we started the year, the first five races, we were a bit nervous, because, when Max and Red Bull came out, they carried on from where they had left off from last year. He won six out of the first seven races and in Australia, he had technical issues. Otherwise, he could have won that as well,” Karun told Rupha Ramani during an exclusive interview on the First Sports show.

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‘We’ve had 15 fantastic weekends’

Chandhok feels that everything changed for Verstappen from the sixth round of the 2024 F1 season in Miami in May, when Lando Norris beat Verstappen by more than seven seconds to win the race. “But, from Miami onwards, we saw that McLaren had a car quick enough to fight against Red Bull. We saw Lando take that win in Miami, which was I think good, and from that moment on, we’ve had 15 fantastic weekends as we head to the final triple header.

“What’s so important is that we arrive on Thursday or Friday and you walk into the track, and talk to teams, drivers and all those people, and nobody knows who’s gonna win. We’ve had more than two years of not having that feeling,” Karun added.

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‘Don’t think Max has felt the pressure’

Chandhok, however, does not believe that Lando has put pressure on Verstappen. “I don’t think he (Max) felt pressure from the competitors coming, honestly. I know a lot of people have speculated that he has been under pressure, and Lando has put pressure on him (Max), and all those other things. I don’t believe that.”

Instead, the former Team Lotus driver believes that Verstappen is a “perfectionist”. “I think Max is actually a perfectionist. I don’t believe it was pressure, I believe it was frustration. He knew that he was driving just as well as he had earlier in the season when he was winning or for the previous two years, but the results he wanted are not coming now.”

Earlier in November, Verstappen won the Brazilian GP , beating Esteban Ocon by 19 seconds. This was after Max began the race in 17th place on the grid. “Brazil was a race where he was able to prove and show everyone that it was the case. His anger and frustration came from not having a car that was able to fight and win, and in Brazil, when the rain came, not only did he win, but he could have won that race by one second, and still got the same points. But, he wanted to send a message to everyone and say that ‘I’m still the top dog’, and he went out there and he won by 19 seconds.

“He had nine out of the 10 fastest laps. His fastest lap was more than one second greater than the next best, which was Lando. That’s a strong statement to send out to your opposition,” added the 40-year-old. The Las Vegas GP on Sunday (24 November), will be followed by the Qatar GP (1 December) and the Abu Dhabi GP (8 December).