JUNE 7, 2018

Verstappen to regroup amid 2018 crisis

Max Verstappen says he will try to "regroup" after a difficult start to the 2018 season.

Max Verstappen, Monaco GP 2018
© The Cahier Archive

Max Verstappen says he will try to "regroup" after a difficult start to the 2018 season.

Many experts and pundits think the young Dutchman's career is in crisis, following an error-strewn first half of the year.

"The question for him is how he will handle this negative phase and how fast can he get out of the hole?" former F1 driver Timo Glock told Speed Week.

"It could keep going for the rest of the year."

And Jan Lammers, another former F1 driver and a Dutchman like Verstappen, told De Telegraaf: "Max does not have to change. And even if he wanted to, which is not the case, then it would not work.

"Racing is in his blood," he added.

Indeed, Verstappen said in Montreal that he is determined to put his 2018 season back on track.

"I would not call my start to the season frustrating, but rather unlucky," he told Le Journal de Montreal.

"It's heartbreaking what happened in the first part of the calendar. Now we need to try to regroup to deliver performances similar to the past two seasons.

"Consistency is one of the keys, but for the moment we don't have that," Verstappen added.

On the bright side, Verstappen will have an upgraded Renault engine this weekend in Canada.

"I'm sure I can expect a bit more performance," said the 20-year-old. "We'll have to wait for practice to see how the car will react to the changes.

"But I trust our car. If we can narrow the gap to the leading group, we can compete with the others."

(GMM)