Max Verstappen 'maximized' his performance despite Red Bull's initial understeer issues in 2022, says former IndyCar driver

Max Verstappen has been praised for being able to maximize his chances with the Red Bull RB18 this season by former IndyCar driver Ho-Pin Tung.

After a rocky start to the year, Max Verstappen has found his mojo and dominated for the majority of the 2022 F1 season thus far. The Dutchman has nine wins in 14 races and has been on the podium in every race he has finished barring the 2022 F1 British GP.

This level of dominance has resulted in Max Verstappen amassing a near three-figure lead at the top of the World Drivers Championship standings. He could wrap up the title with races to spare should this form continue.

While his title defense this year may seem easy to the untrained eye, Max Verstappen has displayed the ability and patience to extract all he can from Red Bull's package, according to Ho-Pin Tung, who now plies his trade as an analyst for Viaplay in the Netherlands.

In an interview carried by Motorsport's Dutch affiliate, the 39-year-old said:

“You saw very clearly at the beginning of the season that the car had too much understeer. You have some drivers who can drive that well, an [Alex] Albon who developed the car for the most part, for example. That has to do with the simulator, that’s often where the car is initially developed. But you don’t only see that at Red Bull, it’s also visible at McLaren and Ferrari. [Carlos] Sainz also had a lot of trouble at the beginning of the season, it was the opposite. That car was very loose in the corners.”

The Chinese-Dutch driver went on to add:

“Red Bull had quite a lot of understeer, they got that out and then it tilted internally as well. Perez was struggling more and Max was getting stronger. He did complain about it at the beginning of the season, but at the same time, he always maximized. He fell out due to technical problems, but maximized in the difficult weekends. He knew he had to be patient, also because it was clear that Red Bull had a competitive car in the base. If you can tweak that to suit your needs and adapt it to your style, then you just know it’s going to work out.”

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Max Verstappen to be kept in a bubble to limit distractions during 2022 F1 Dutch GP weekend

Max Verstappen will be kept in a bubble to limit distractions ahead of the 2022 F1 Dutch GP, according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

The Dutchman returns to his home race this weekend in hopes of defending his win from last year. Max Verstappen is also in a more comfortable position in the World Drivers' Championship standings this time around.

Despite holding a 93-point lead over his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez at the top of the standings, Verstappen will be approaching this race weekend just as he would any other, according to Horner.

In an interview with Motorsport, the 48-year-old was asked if Verstappen would be allowed to ease off given it is a race at home. Horner said:

“I think you have to keep the pressure on, because as soon as you don’t, you start making mistakes. So, we will approach Zandvoort with exactly the same discipline that we have done every Grand Prix so far this year, and there’s no additional activities for Max, compared to a standard Grand Prix weekend. Of course, there’ll be an awful lot of noise around the circuit, but we’ll try and keep him within a bubble, obviously inside the team, and try and manage expectations.”

Verstappen has once again been plagued by issues during the first day of practice for the 2022 F1 Dutch GP and it remains to be seen if he can rise above them as well to the delight of his fans at home.