Max Verstappen 'has carried Red Bull for a while now', claims Oscar Piastri's manager

Oscar Piastri's manager Mark Webber feels Max Verstappen has carried Red Bull for a while now as the driver's scores are now starting to dry out. The Austrian team dominantly began the season as the car had a decent advantage over the competition and it reflected in the results.

Max Verstappen had a thumping win in the first two races at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It was only after McLaren introduced its upgrade package in Miami that things began to change.

Since then, slowly but steadily, Red Bull has continued to fall back while McLaren has continued to surge. In what was an alarming scenario, Verstappen was driving the fourth fastest car in Monza while direct rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were fighting for the win at the front.

The gap in the championship has continued to shrink quickly and in the constructors standing, it is down to single digits between Red Bull and McLaren.

Talking about the current situation, former driver of the Austrian squad, Mark Webber felt that the team had been carried by the Dutch for a while now. Discussing the current state of the team on the Formula for Success podcast, Webber said:

“It was a well oiled machine. Max has carried that team for a while now, this season. We’ve seen Barcelona, we’ve seen Silverstone, Imola. Lewis Hamilton’s win at Silverstone was absolutely extraordinary but Max’s P2 was top draw. We’ve seen some very, very special drives from Max."

He added,

“That car has times, as he’s called it himself, in his own words, has turned into a monster. Let’s see. It’s the fine gains. If they get a little bit back, you don’t know. It can change.”

Eddie Jordan feels Max Verstappen concealed the deficit of the car

Eddie Jordan also believes that Red Bull has been in a bad position for some time now. For him, Vaerstappen's brilliance on the track has been concealing the shortcomings of the car. The former team boss pointed out how Sergio Perez couldn't wrap his head around what was going on with the car for some time while Verstappen kept getting the results. He said:

“Christian Horner has a massive job on his hands because he has to take out the big stick and start cracking it. We all were slagging off Perez but maybe Perez and that car - that’s the speed of the car, and what Max is doing is what Max is able to do. Beyond any doubt he’s the best driver in F1 in my opinion at this moment in time. Therefore, to finish fifth and fourth, or six, whatever it is, it must be killing him at this stage.”

Max Verstappen is currently 62 points ahead of Lando Norris. The driver would be hoping that Red Bull can somehow make some improvements because if the team doesn't, the driver could start leaking far more points and the threat of the championship becomes even more serious.