MONZA, Italy – Max Verstappen said Red Bull has turned its once-dominant car into “a monster” and must face the prospect of losing one or both F1 titles this year.

Verstappen’s championship lead over Lando Norris shrank to 63 points at the Italian Grand Prix. He finished sixth, his worst result of the season.

McLaren currently appears to have the fastest car in the field and is now nine points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.

When asked if it was realistic that Red Bull could defend the title, Verstappen replied: “At the moment, both championships are not realistic.”

After a record-breaking 2023 season, Verstappen won four of the five races at the start of the 2024 season – but he has not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23.

“Last year we had a great car, the most dominant car ever, and we basically turned it into a monster, so we need to turn it around,” he said Sunday night.

Verstappen said Red Bull needed to fix the car’s fault quickly.

“I’ve said a lot and now it’s up to the team to make a lot of changes to the car because we’ve basically gone from a very dominant car to an undriveable car in about six to eight months. That’s very strange for me and yes, I really need to turn the car on its head,” he said.

Asked if he would go into damage limitation mode, Verstappen said: “In a way, yes, but that’s not how I like to see the championship. We have to rely on our own luck and today and the whole weekend was very bad.”