Martin Brundle believes that the gap between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the Dutch Grand Prix may have something to do with some mind games from the reigning world champion.

Verstappen crossed the line over 20 seconds behind his championship rival, despite taking the lead from Norris at Turn One after the polesitter endured a rough launch when the lights went out.

The victory was a statement win for Norris, who moved within 70 points of championship leader Verstappen with a full 26-point haul at his rival’s home circuit.

However, according to Brundle, the true deficit might have been less. “I would hazard a guess that was not as fast as Max could go,” he claimed on Sky Sports F1‘s coverage. “He knew he couldn’t beat Lando and dropping back like that is going to give the factory a hurry up, isn’t it?

“It is confusing as not that long ago it looked like the Red Bull was on rails. It seems as though they have taken away some of the confidence of the driver. It is odd they have fallen away so dramatically.”

Verstappen was unhappy with the performance of his RB20 after the chequered flag. The Dutchman’s drive was a strong damage limitation performance, but they are now in a precarious position in both World Championships with nine races to go.

“I’m not surprised with how my feeling was in the car,” he stated. “I couldn’t do anything. Whatever I do with the car, the inputs are not really translating. When I steer left, it doesn’t feel like it does immediately.

“Or it just doesn’t turn how I want to. It’s very complicated to understand why that is and how we fix that. The positive was the start but quite early on in that stint, Lando was waiting for the opportunity. He came by and from that point onwards, I was focused on bringing it to the end in the best possible position.”

The danger for Verstappen now is that with technical tracks like Baku and Singapore coming up, Red Bull face an uphill battle in the development race to stop McLaren from running away week after week at the front.