Ahead of the Hungarian GP weekend, Max Verstappens reportedly stayed up late into the night, taking part in the Virtual 24 Hours of Spa. As such, he did not get enough sleep which likely contributed to his snarky remarks during the race. Former World Champion Nico Rosberg pointed this out in the aftermath and used Lando Norris’ good sleeping schedule as an example for Verstappen.
Rosberg felt that Verstappen got a bit too comfortable with his domination in F1. In 2022 and 2023, he would barely break any sweat on his way to winning races. But with rivals having caught up, Rosberg expected Verstappen to be more professional.
He said,
“Last night his (Lando Norris’) bedtime was 11.05, not 11.00, 05. Wake up was 8.05, and breakfast was already set. Like exactly what to eat, so hyper-professional, which was nice to know. In contrast, you had Verstappen, who until 3 a.m., last night was sim racing. That’s a bit disappointing, isn’t it? It just shows that he’s too used to his ease of domination a little bit by now.”
Nico is impressed with Lando Norris’ professionalism ahead of the Hungarian GP
Nico Rosberg: “And at the same time, in contrast, you had Verstappen who until 3 am last night was sim racing. And that’s a bit disappointing. It just shows that he’s too used to his ease of domination.” pic.twitter.com/y2pmssJ7IU
— devyani (@formula_dev) July 21, 2024
Previously, Verstappen was praised for the balancing act, with him winning with virtual and real-life races on the same weekend. But in Hungary, it blew up on his face.
However, the criticism would not have come to light had he won, which Verstappen could very well have, had Red Bull fielded a stronger car.
Helmut Marko ridiculed claims suggesting Verstappen was irritable because of sim racing
Verstappen struggled immensely with the RB20’s understeer in Hungary. Added to that was his team’s questionable strategy calls, which led to him being undercut by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc twice. Seemingly, this is what made him so agitated on the team radio.
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko became the first to deny claims of lack of sleep being a factor behind Verstappen’s difficult weekend. He said,
“Max has a different rhythm to me or other people. And the time he went to bed is nothing out of the ordinary for him… He’s got his sleep quota. He’s had it as usual. That’s rubbish.“
To say that the Dutchman needed more sleep to win the race was speculative.
At the same time, Marko added that Red Bull is being cornered by its competition. With 11 races to go, the Milton-Keynes-based team cannot afford to make more mistakes.
