It appears that Max Verstappen may not be able to defend his title this year. With nine Grand Prix races left on the calendar, the Dutchman is trailing by 104 points behind McLaren rival Oscar Piastri. Even on home turf, he couldn’t outperform the Australian last weekend, finishing ‘only’ in second place. Racing Bulls colleague Isack Hadjar completed the podium. Fernando Alonso believes that Verstappen could have contended for the title if he had been racing for the junior team.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri extended his lead further during the Dutch GP at Zandvoort. Lando Norris, who suffered a significant blow in the World Championship standings due to a mechanical failure, is now 34 points behind the Melbourne driver, while Max Verstappen, with a deficit of 104 points, has little prospect of a new title. Fernando Alonso thinks that the Dutchman would have posed a greater threat this year if he had raced for Racing Bulls.
‘Racing Bulls Always Had a Plane’
After the qualification, in which rookie Isack Hadjar secured an impressive fourth starting position behind Verstappen, Alonso was interviewed by the Spanish AS. “Racing Bulls have always had a plane,” the Spaniard downplayed Hadjar’s performance. “If Verstappen had been in that car, he would be fighting for the world championship. We saw it at the beginning of this year with Tsunoda. He always raced in the top six with Racing Bulls, but now he can’t get past Q1.”
Isack Hadjar proved once again during Sunday’s race that he has a competitive vehicle with the VCARB 02. The 20-year-old Parisian defended his fourth place and moved up to the podium due to Lando Norris’s retirement. He has been seen for some time as the next teammate of Max Verstappen at Red Bull, but according to Alonso, the roles would be better reversed.
