Max Verstappen has dominated the Formula 1 grid as an individual since 2021. In a thrilling battle with Lewis Hamilton that lasted until the very last laps of the season and is still remembered by fans, the Red Bull driver won his maiden Drivers’ Championship that year. In 2022, 2023, and even last year, when McLaren’s MCL38 was the better package on the grid, Verstappen went on to win championships.
However, Verstappen’s winning streak is probably coming to an end this year. With 187 points going into the Summer Shutdown, he was 97 points behind leader Oscar Piastri and 88 points behind second-place Lando Norris.
Furthermore, Verstappen’s already remote ambitions of winning the championship became even more remote as the McLaren team traded victories in recent weeks. Norris and Piastri had four straight one-two finishes for the Woking-based team before the break.
According to the driver, however, he is “not too worried” about his chances of winning a championship.
Verstappen talked candidly about his future in the sport and the state of play at Red Bull in 2025 in an interview with Lawrence Barretto that was posted on the official Formula One website (membership is free).
Regarding his and the team’s present standing, which places Red Bull fourth in the Constructors’ Championship standings and on their second Team Principal of the year, Verstappen said, “You also just have to accept where you’re at.” Yes, we aren’t the fastest right now, but we’re also not the slowest either.
“We always want to improve, and while we were winning, that was true as well. We aren’t winning as much now.
Since there will undoubtedly be new rules next year, we simply try to concentrate on learning more about the car and where we may find our time. However, I believe there is still a lot to learn this year as well.
Notably, after the British Grand Prix, Red Bull promoted Laurent Mekies to the position of Team Principal, replacing Christian Horner, who had been the company’s only Team Principal. Weeks of conjecture that Verstappen was contemplating an unexpected switch to the Silver Arrows were sparked by that move, as well as two vacancies at Mercedes for the upcoming season.
Verstappen reaffirmed that he is focused on the future with Red Bull in response to those rumors.
Verstappen stated, “The problem is that other people are always talking a lot while I’m not really talking because, first of all, I don’t need to, I don’t need to say anything.“
“Instead of just waffling things around, I believe that’s better for everyone. I’m really focused on ’26 with the team, to look forward and make sure that we nail the regulations and that we are competitive from the beginning, even though it makes no sense and is a bit of a waste of time.”
Additionally, the driver thinks Red Bull can recover from this season.
“Naturally, the team had already won titles before I came, but after going through a period of rebuilding, we really reached our championship-winning pinnacle once more,” he said to Barretto.
”Right now, I think [it is a] little rebuilding season. Although we are still a very good squad, I do believe that in order to advance once again, there may need to be some little restructuring or rebuilding, as well as a better knowledge of what is happening. Of course, this takes some time, but hopefully not too much.
“I don’t worry too much about that because I believe that the team’s philosophy is to bounce back from a setback: it’s always been that way.”
The Dutch Grand Prix will mark the return of Formula One to competition at the conclusion of this month.
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