Verstappen warning delivered as Red Bull prepare to unleash upgrade

Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has outlined what RB20 characteristics have most troubled Max Verstappen this season, and what he needs fixed. Despite a strong start to the year, the Milton Keynes-based team's form has slumped and its star driver is winless over the past eight rounds. The most recent event, the Singapore Grand Prix, offered a glimmer of hope, however, with the Dutchman enjoying a strong drive to second place, at a venue where he and his team has struggled of late. The three-time drivers' champion holds a 52-point advantage over Lando Norris, and with six rounds still to run, the expected updates for the United States Grand Prix must deliver for Red Bull, something Marko is acutely aware of. "There has to be more speed and the car has to function in a wider working window," the Austrian told RTL/ntv and sport.de. The 81-year-old added that the "slightest deviation from this window" has "caused these fluctuations and the balance in the car was not there," before turning his attention to the RB20's development path ahead of the round in Austin, Texas. "I assume that it will work," he said. "The first changes had a positive effect in Singapore. They were the first step."

Whilst the constructors' championship fight is slowly slipping through Red Bull's fingers, with a 41-point deficit to McLaren, Norris overthrowing Verstappen remains a tall order. Despite this, Marko insists the reigning champions must deliver on its own merit over the final six rounds, arguing that if it can achieve that, Verstappen will be "in his own class" once more. "We have to win again on our own," he stated. "We have to give Verstappen a car in which he can show off his abilities. He can drive a car to the extreme limit." "He can't use a car that understeers. What bothered him most was that the car oscillated between understeering and oversteering and was unpredictable for him." Marko left one final, parting remark to underline the Dutchman's latent dominance, saying if Red Bull can re-balance the RB20, "Max will be driving in his own class again."