Windsor: ‘It doesn’t actually look that easy for Max right now’

"Although from Max's point of view, it doesn't look brought him too much good fortune," Windsor says of the one-off livery Red Bull are driving this weekend. At Istanbul Park, there is a lot more grip on the asphalt compared to 12 months ago. "And as they were going out and finding that new grippy surface, Max Verstappen looked pretty good. After half an hour into the session in the morning, however, Max was on the radio saying: 'I've lost the front end'. And in the afternoon it's: 'I've lost the rear end'. The car is really snappy."

More wing not the solution

Verstappen maintained to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase for a long time that it was down to the tyres. "At one point he came in and put on more front wing and by the end, when he was out running on heavy fuel, he put a lot more wing on and lost about ten kilometers in a straight line [compared to the competition]," the analyst explains in his latest video.

Like Helmut Marko, Windsor noticed that the problems were mainly on the RB16B of the 24-year-old Dutchman. "It looked to be pretty much a Max Verstappen thing, because Sergio Perez looked pretty quick all day, both on light fuel and heavy fuel, so the hope of course is that they do find something on Max's car that'll explain this rather strange change of pace that we saw as I say 30 minutes into FP1."

Verstappen needs to get going

Despite Friday's tough ride, there are still plenty of chances for victory. After all, Lewis Hamilton will receive a ten-place grid penalty on Sunday. "So like I said, this should be Max's saying: 'Yeah, pop the champagne cork, here is a win coming coming up.' It doesn't actually look that easy for Max right now. I'm sure Sergio won't give him any trouble, that would be his role," Windsor concluded.