Windsor Highlights Verstappen’s Struggles: Praises Newey’s Expertise

Peter Windsor believes Max Verstappen‘s recent struggles are partly due to Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull. Windsor says the three-time World Champion is having a “bad run” and couldn’t climb up from sixth on the grid, even finishing behind Lando Norris.

Since winning in Spain in June, Verstappen hasn’t been victorious. In the seven races after Barcelona, he only made it to the podium twice. In Baku, George Russell and Lando Norris overtook him on track, with Norris starting from P15 after a poor qualifying.

Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez found a better setup with the new Red Bull floor. He qualified ahead of Verstappen and was set for a podium or maybe even a last-lap win fight until he crashed with Carlos Sainz.

Windsor points to Newey

“It’s so odd that Max is having such a really bad run at the moment,” Windsor said on his YouTube channel. “He is so uncompetitive with his major rivals.” Windsor thinks this is largely because Adrian Newey is leaving for Aston Martin next season.

“If you take the 30,000ft view, you could say: ‘Wow! Ever since the Newey departure news, Red Bull seemed to have collapsed’. Well, it’s easy to say that. I’ve just said it but yes, I think it does underline how good Newey was in his Red Bull days at the race track in terms of setup. Possibly knowing how Max wants the car setup as well. He is very good at that. He is also a really good race engineer and that appears to be what Red Bull are lacking at the moment,” Windsor concluded.

Fans might wonder if this means trouble for Red Bull’s future success.

What do you think? Is Newey’s departure really affecting Verstappen’s performance?