Verstappen Must Prove Red Bull Criticism Right

Max Verstappen’s public criticism of Red Bull’s setup direction in Canada exposed internal tension that should have stayed behind closed doors, according to former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher, and now leaves Verstappen needing to show that his preferred path can move the team forward.

Speaking on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Schumacher said Verstappen was "clearly frustrated" after qualifying in Montreal, where Red Bull chose a direction the Dutchman felt he had already tried before without success. Verstappen ended up sixth on the grid and said afterward that it "really didn’t work."

Schumacher said the way Verstappen aired the disagreement revealed the scale of the friction inside the team. "Max didn't mince words," Schumacher said on the podcast. "He said, 'I told them it's all wrong.' You can see from that too that there are tensions." While Schumacher said he appreciates Verstappen being open about what he thinks, he added that "really it should stay internal."

The criticism came on a weekend that still produced Verstappen’s first podium of the season, with third place in the Canadian Grand Prix. Even so, he remained unhappy with the balance of the RB22 and made clear that Red Bull had followed its own direction rather than the changes he wanted.

That dispute, Schumacher argued, has now shifted the pressure onto Verstappen himself. He said Red Bull did not follow his preferred route in Canada, which gives him "every chance" to prove "himself and the team" right by showing that his proposals work. Schumacher added that Verstappen’s "first task now is to get the car back on track at all" if Red Bull is to return to the front.

Schumacher also pointed to uncertainty over Verstappen’s longer-term outlook, saying the world champion has sent "mixed messages" about the future. "One day he says he’ll be driving in 2027, that everything is fine and that he feels comfortable," Schumacher said. "The next day he says that if things continue like this, he could start losing his enjoyment again." For Schumacher, that leaves both Verstappen and Red Bull needing to settle on a clear direction and turn the Canada frustration into evidence that the driver’s technical reading of the car was the right one.