Max Verstappen's unconvincing response over Red Bull long-term plan speaks volumes

Max Verstappen had quite the despondent answer when questioned about Red Bull's long-term planning following Lando Norris' dominating showing in the Dutch Grand Prix. The reigning Formula One champion was outclassed in his home race by the Brit who claimed his second Grand Prix win and a third for McLaren this season.

The Dutchman - who finished second in Sunday's race - has now gone five races without a win which is his longest winless run since 2020. Now only 70 points ahead of Norris, the Red Bull superstar faces a legitimate threat to his crown with nine races to go in the 2024 season.

Speaking after the race, the 26-year-old admitted that his current car is "not the easiest" to drive before being asked: "We're at a point in the season where everyone else is developing at a very fast rate and you can see the developments that McLaren have made and your fight with them, what can the team do quickly and what is the longer-term plan essentially?"

A concise and unconvincing response from Verstappen followed as he replied: "There's a few things that we are looking at and hopefully we can improve the situation quickly but only time will tell." It was the first time in four years that the Dutchman didn't win his home race as Norris admitted that McLaren should have more race wins to their name this season.

"Today, this whole weekend, I think we’ve had the best car," the 24-year-old said. "We know more information than people do on the outside, so we can comment in much more factual ways than people who are just watching on TV and taking their picks and guesses.

"We’ve had, on average, the best car. We probably should have won two, three more races as a team, but we didn’t and it’s because we’ve not done a good enough job. I didn’t do a good enough job."

With Norris continuing to establish himself in what is his first title race of his F1 career, the advantages the Brit has in the speedy McLaren were not only acknowledged by Verstappen who claimed it was "quite clear" Red Bull couldn't challenge the fast pace of their competitors, but by the team's motorsport director, Helmut Marko.

The Austrian admitted: "We don’t have the fastest car. We have some issues that we have to solve and we are working on this, this weekend was just a bad weekend in general. So we need to understand that. But the last few races, they haven’t really been fantastic. So that in a sense, was already a bit alarming."