Max Verstappen won 19 of the 22 races last year. The Dutch National anthem was played for all those wins. Multiple memes went viral around the internet around the same time including some fans calling the Dutch National Anthem the F1 theme song. However, things have considerably changed in 2024 as Verstappen resorts to playing the Dutch National Anthem himself.
Verstappen, while streaming on Twitch told his mates in the online lobby, “We missed something boys!” The Dutchman went ahead and played the Dutch National Anthem.
The friends shared a few giggles remembering the time when fans decided to make fun of how consistently the Anthem was played on the F1 podium celebrations.
max: we missed something boys! [plays the dutch national anthem]
crane: what was that noise?
max: something we haven’t heard in a while!!!
hes so pic.twitter.com/a3HazmQIyl
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) July 24, 2024
The Red Bull driver went on to put salt in his wounds as he added, “Something we haven’t heard in a while!”. Verstappen’s last win came at the 2024 Spanish GP. Mercedes won back-to-back races after the Barcelona GP followed by a McLaren 1-2 at the Hungarian GP.
Verstappen was probably having some fun with his mates but his words indeed symbolize the gradual decline of Red Bull. Both Mercedes and McLaren have caught up with the Milton Keynes outfit as the Dutchman struggled even in the upgraded RB20 in Budapest.
With the way the development curve has gone, the Dutch National anthem might not be heard anytime soon. Especially not before the summer break. Verstappen is reportedly going to take a new engine at Spa Francorchamps resulting in a 10-place grid penalty.
Although it is easy to overtake around Spanish Francorchamps, McLaren’s pace will make it super difficult for Verstappen to win the race. Yet, despite having the fastest car, McLaren still isn’t behaving like a championship contender.
McLaren’s Hungarian GP strategy mess-up might haunt them
McLaren arguably has the best-performing car on the grid at the moment. Despite the huge upgrade package brought to the Hungarian GP, Verstappen failed to match Piastri or Norris’ pace. While the Dutchman was pulling the team in the championship, winning races in the future seems to be out of reach.
Oscar Piastri was comfortably leading the race with Lando Norris a few seconds behind him. However, McLaren gave Norris the pit preference over the lead car which ended up causing a huge mess. In the end, McLaren literally pleaded with Norris to give the win to Piastri.
While McLaren may have the fastest cars, the strategic call shows how the team isn’t prepared to be the dominant team. The mindset and clarity of a lead team seem to be missing within McLaren. The late 2000s and early 2010s were the last time McLaren was this competitive.
If McLaren continues to make such errors, Verstappen can capitalize on them and run away with the Driver’s Championship. Fortunately enough for McLaren, Red Bull themselves had a shocking day in terms of strategic calls in Budapest.
