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Jacques Villeneuve: Max Verstappen 'not in the right mental space' as Red Bull frustration grows

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14 March 2026 at 09:21

Jacques Villeneuve has claimed that Max Verstappen might not be in the right mental space as he becomes more and more frustrated with the Red Bull RB22.

The four-time champion had a disastrous start during the Chinese sprint race. After getting bogged down and suffering from wheelspin at the race start, Verstappen went from eighth on the grid to 13th.

"I have not a lot of words at the moment, to be honest," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1 after the sprint race. "Everything that could go wrong went wrong. The start is one problem that we have to fix, but then after that, the balance is all over the place. Probably the highest degradation of everyone out there, which is just uncontrollable.

"Plus some other bits on the car that were not, I would say, well prepared. We just need to get our stuff together."

When asked how much Red Bull could turn its form around this weekend, Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1: "Not really, because last year they had a car that was responding to Max and his driving style.

"Maybe it was a little bit off the pace, but they could fine-tune it. Right now, he's all over the place. He has no feedback. He doesn't know, he just knows the car is undrivable. He doesn't know what to do with it, and he's frustrated. So he's not even in the right mental space.

"So it will be very tough for the team to make a leap forward. But the team has changed. They've lost three of their head guys, [Adrian] Newey, [Christian] Horner, and Helmut Marko. And those were the pillars of the team. So maybe they're starting to pay the price for that."

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick added: "He's always going to drive it to his maximum. I don't think we can ever think he's not going to be motivated or he's not going to put 100% in. He's always going to put everything he's got into it on track, even if he doesn't sound like he's that happy out of the car.

"But it's frustrating. He's motivated by success, he's motivated by winning, he is one of the purest racers on the grid in terms of his desire to go racing. We've seen that with everything else he does. So this isn't fun for him. But equally, it wasn't fun for everyone else when he was dominating.

"So, it's part of the way that the sport kind of ebbs and flows. But for Red Bull to be as far off as they are, with a powertrain that they've developed in-house, with everything that they've got and the experience that they've got, I think they've got to really scratch their heads and put something together because otherwise they're not going to keep Max Verstappen for next year."

Photos from Chinese GP - Saturday

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes, Lando Norris, McLaren

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Fans

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Carlos Sainz, Williams

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Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

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Alexandra Leclerc arrives in the Paddock

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Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

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Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

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Lando Norris, McLaren

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Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

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Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

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Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team, Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari

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Laura Mueller, Race Engineer, Haas F1 on the grid

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Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

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Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

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George Russell, Mercedes

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Mickey Mouse branding is seen on the trackside kerbs

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George Russell, Mercedes

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George Russell, Mercedes

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Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

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Oscar Piastri, McLaren

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

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George Russell, Mercedes

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Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

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Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren

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Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

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Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

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Franco Colapinto, Alpine

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Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren

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Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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Nico Hülkenberg, Audi F1 Team, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

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George Russell, Mercedes

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Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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George Russell, Mercedes

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George Russell, Mercedes

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

Jade Gao - Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

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Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

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Charles Leclerc went “almost over the edge” in aggressive Lewis Hamilton fight, says Jacques Villeneuve

Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

14 March 2026 at 09:08

1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has argued that Charles Leclerc was too aggressive with his Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton during the Chinese sprint race.

Ferrari had another strong start in the sprint race, with Hamilton going from fourth to second before taking the lead on the second lap. The opening stages of the race saw an intense battle between Hamilton and his former Mercedes team-mate.

With Leclerc close behind in third, the Monegasque driver began to put pressure on Hamilton on lap 6. Leclerc overtook Hamilton on lap 8 into the first corner, with the Briton suffering from tyre graining as a result of the battle with Russell.

The two Ferraris continued to battle for a couple of laps. Leclerc and Hamilton ultimately finished the sprint race in second and third, respectively.

"Well, Charles was pushing. Lewis really had genuine pace early on, then obviously was aggressive because once you're in the lead, you can kind of control it," Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1.

"So he was trying to stay in the lead there. I found Charles very aggressive in his defence against Lewis. That was a little bit almost over the edge, I would say, because Lewis didn't fight him off meanly; it was very clean. Then Charles was pushing him off the track, which was a little bit tough."

Asked if Ferrari could make the fight with Mercedes last longer during Sunday's race if they can get a good start again, the former driver added: "They seem to be able to do it every time they get on the track. That energy that they have in the first few laps, they will have it, and even more so with full tanks; it will be more apparent then.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

"But I think George has learned a lot today from that race, to try not to get caught out again. And [Kimi] Antonelli has to work on his racecraft because that's too many mistakes from a car that should finish, at worst, second. But it's not just the start, it's the whole first lap more or less, if not more than that.

"And I think George kind of said, I think Lewis caught him out a little bit. I think George got through Turn 1, which he thought was going to be the issue, probably felt like, 'Right, OK, I'm gone now,' and didn't even look in his mirrors. He would have seen Lewis fly past him.

"And what was interesting for me with George was he was checking his mirror and checking left so much when Lewis passed him, because the speed differential is so different now. It's not like you pass a car and you know exactly where that car is, you don't really know because they've got such differences in the way that they're approaching their deployment and the battery.

"So I think tomorrow he will have learned, especially George. But it's not just the first lap; it's the first maybe three, four laps he needs to worry about."