Max Verstappen: Red Bull Driver is right that the team will not win the race in 2025 Formula 1 after the Hungarian GP weekend “ bizarre ”? | F1 News
Max Verstappen thinks that Red Bull will not win another Formula 1 race in 2025 after “nothing worked” last weekend in Hungary.
Verstappen qualified the worst eighth of the season and marked its worst finish of the year in ninth, behind the Bulls of the race of former teammate Liam Lawson and was almost lapé by Lando Norris, winner of the race.
The Dutchman won in Suzuka and Imola earlier this year with two exceptional performances, but only had once on the podium in the last seven laps.
Questioned by the Dutch media in Budapest if Red Bull could win a third race this year, he replied: “No, not the way things are happening right now. It’s just like that. That’s clear.
“I can’t do anything about it. I could get angry, but it won’t make the car faster.”
Yuki Tsunoda had another dismal event with a fifth elimination of the season and fought towards a lonely 17th while his great deficit in Verstappen continued.
Verstappen, who confirmed last week that he would stay with Red Bull in 2026 after speculation of a shock move to Mercedes, says that Red Bull “would investigate” their “bizarre” weekend.
“It was a very difficult weekend. Very low grip and not much that we could do it,” he said Sky Sports F1.
“It’s very complicated to explain. Nothing has unfortunately worked. In SPA, we had a much more competitive weekend.
“I know that we are not at the McLaren level, but they have also done a good job this year.”
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Verstappen confirms that he remains in Red Bull next season
The confident Hungary of the Mekies was only one-off
A week before the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen won the sprint in Belgium when he retained Oscar Piastri and Norris from McLaren with an error -free performance.
SPA-Francorchamps presents long straight lines and very few average corners at low speed, which have played in the hands of Red Bull, while the Hungaroring requires a good change of direction and a car which has little understeer through the long radius turns.
Red Bull was strong on tracks based on aerodynamics but which have been vulnerable with regard to circuits which promote good mechanical adhesion.
The team also masked its weaknesses by operating a rear wing with a low support on the Verstappen car, which helped it to pole position in Silverstone and the Belgian GP Sprint victory. However, it was not possible to execute this specification of the rear wing in Hungary due to the disposition of winding track.
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Verstappen won the victory in the Belgian Sprint GP after having withdrawn Oscar Piastri in the last round
“I do not think what you see this weekend represents where the car is,” said Laurent Mekies, director of the Red Bull team.
“We accept the fact that we are probably not very strong on tracks like here, but what we have seen today was exceptional.
“If you look, without question that McLaren is faster, but watch Spa, Max was able to fight certainly on Saturday and surprise everyone in the sprint. See.”
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Verstappen threw a cloth on the track of his Red Bull in an unusual moment during the second try at the Hungarian Grand Prix
The 10 F1 teams should not bring other major upgrades this season as they turn their attention to new cars 2026.
Despite this, Mekies thinks that Red Bull can gain performance by learning what was wrong in Hungary to extract more from the RB21.
“This will not change the fact that we have a narrow window,” he said.
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Verstappen reacts after qualifying eighth around Hungaroring
“But I think that to be considerably released like that, I am also very convinced that with all the tests we have carried out in Budapest, including in the race, I am also convinced that it will be one-off.
“It is true that it was mainly a question at slow speed and a question in mid-speed. Consequently, it points to a use more of the tires and the tire turned on more than our performance.”
What Red Bull tracks be competitive?
There will be 10 more rounds after the summer holidays in Formula 1 with the 2025 season with the Home event from Verstappen to Zandvoort.
The high -speed track should actually play with the Red Bull forces and offer Verstappen the opportunity to fight at least for the podium. However, things could become difficult after that.
The Italian Monza has never been a strong Red Bull track, then Baku and Singapore are street circuits that are based on mechanical grip due to slow speed corners.
Red Bull should be solid again on the Americas circuit, as it looks like Silverstone and can also be a threat to Mexico City.
The Brazil interlagos have slow corners consecutive in the intermediate sector, which will be a problem, then the last realistic opportunity of Red Bull to challenge McLaren will probably appear in the Losail International Circuit at Qatar, because the final in Abu Dhabi has another last winding sector.
Formula 1 returns after the summer holidays with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort on August 29-31, live Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time
