Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko says Max Verstappen's poor judgment calls earlier this season were the result of the Dutchman applying excessive pressure on himself.
A string of incidents and mishaps in almost every single race this year called into question Verstappen's ability to discipline himself and learn from his mistakes.
The 20-year-old has since got his act together, clinching two podium finishes in the last two races, in Canada and France, on the back of flawless race weekends.
Marko explained where the mistakes had come from.
"The problem was that Max put too much pressure on himself," the Austrian manager told Autosport.
"Suddenly he made mistakes with a car he could drive in front, which he did not make last year when his car was far from so good.
"We’ve been through all variations: how can we stabilise Max?
"It was more a coincidence than a programmed action that nobody was there in Montreal. But this is the Max we’re expecting now. France was a great weekend without any mistakes."
Revisiting Verstappen's crash in FP3 in Monaco, Marko says the blunder was a clear case of the driver failing to rein in his enthusiasm.
"That’s exactly what he needs to learn: you won’t win a championship just because you’re ahead in every practice session," said Marko.
“On the other hand, we’re glad he’s so unruly. It’s easier to get him [to calm] down than to build a not so fast or aggressive driver in that direction."
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