Max Verstappen: Red Bull car has gone from dominant to undriveable

Max Verstappen believes it is “unrealistic” that he will be able to stop Lando Norris from winning the world championship after accusing Red Bull of his turning his title-winning machine into a “monster”.

Verstappen started seventh and made up just one position at Monza’s Temple of Speed on Sunday to allow Norris, who crossed the line in third, to eat into his championship lead.

Norris has taken 16 points out of Verstappen in the last two races, and now trails the Dutchman by 62 points with eight rounds still remaining. Norris’s McLaren team are also just eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.

“At the moment both championships are not realistic,” said Verstappen after Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. “We have to keep working and push flat-out. There are no excuses.

“Last year we had a great car, the most dominant car ever, but we have turned it into a monster so we have to turn it around.

“We have gone from a dominant car to an undriveable car in the space of six to eight months. That is very weird. We need to turn the car upside down.”

Verstappen, 26, raced to last season’s championship, and then won seven of the opening 10 rounds this year. But he hasn’t triumphed since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23 – a winless streak which now stands at six races.

Red Bull, hit by the Christian Horner scandal at the beginning of the year, have only won three times since Adrian Newey’s departure was announced ahead the Miami Grand Prix in the first week of May.

Verstappen, bidding to win a fourth title in a row, added: “I always said I would have preferred if Adrian stayed but it is not about that now.

“I have said a lot to the team, and now it is up to them to come with a lot of changes because we are bad everywhere.”