Valtteri Bottas Points Out One Key Red Bull Concern Amid Max Verstappen Praise

Saajan Jogia | Jan 12, 2025

Nov 23, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen of The Netherlands (1) drives during the Las Vegas Grand Prix at the Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images / Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Mercedes reserve driver and F1 veteran Valtteri Bottas has praised Max Verstappen for his racing prowess, saying that he is currently "in his prime," but points out one major concern that could hold him back from succeeding—the car Red Bull develops for him.

While Verstappen made full use of Red Bull's dominance in the ground effect era, which peaked in 2023 when he secured 19 wins out of 23 races, the 2024 season supports Bottas' claims as Red Bull encountered a correlation issue with its RB20 F1 car. Discrepancies between CFD data and on-track performance led to balance problems, undermining the car's effectiveness.

Although Verstappen secured his fourth title, last season displayed Red Bull's struggles to develop the RB20 into a dominant car, resulting in a fierce battle between Verstappen and Lando Norris. The complexity of ground-effect cars hindered Red Bull's ability to address the issues promptly, allowing McLaren to surpass it with superior racing performance.

Red Bull lost the top two spots in the Constructors' Championship to McLaren and Ferrari by the end of the season. As the sport enters the final season of the ground-effect era in March, the grid is expected to be tightly contested.

Bottas believes Verstappen can dominate, but only if Red Bull provides him with a competitive car. Bottas praised the 27-year-old driver, highlighting his defensive driving style and ability to perform consistently. He told RacingNews365:

"It's tough to battle with him. He doesn't leave any room [and] you know he's never going to back out.

"Everyone knows that racing against him, he's super consistent, he doesn't really do any any mistakes anymore, unlike earlier in his career, which is natural, but now he's in his prime.

"He's super quick, talented, and now he has the experience and confidence as well, so he's a really, really tough driver to beat.

"But, of course, in the future, he will need the car as well, as we've seen this year with different winners."

When asked if Verstappen's ability to fight till the end makes him one of F1's best drivers, the 35-year-old said:

"Probably - and the consistency.

"In any scenario, he can always pull a lap [together]. And also his race craft is always really, really smart.

"So just overall, [he is a ]pretty complete package, and that's why he's won the [F1 drivers'] championship so many times."

Bottas returns to the Brackley outfit this season as a reserve driver after competing with the Sauber F1 team since 2022.

Although he was a strong candidate for a full-time seat with the team, which transitions to Audi ownership next season, the Hinwil squad ultimately selected F2 driver Gabriel Bortoleto.