It was a disastrous weekend for four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix, which ended with the Dutch driver spending the entire race battling in the lower midfield. But what exactly went wrong with the RB21? Let’s take a closer look at what happened and at Max Verstappen’s own post-race reflections.
From the very start of the weekend, things looked grim for Red Bull Racing. Both Friday free practice sessions revealed significant performance issues, and even though the team has often struggled on Fridays only to bounce back in time for qualifying or the race, expectations of a turnaround this time proved to be overly optimistic. The problems never went away.
Max Verstappen could only manage to qualify in eighth position, and things did not improve during the Grand Prix itself. At the start of the race, Verstappen was immediately stuck in the midfield and never showed signs of climbing up the order. He spent the opening stint of the race trapped behind a long DRS train led by Fernando Alonso, who was running in fifth position. Unable to make any progress, the Red Bull Racing strategists decided to take a gamble by calling him into the pits early and fitting the hard compound tyres in an attempt to gain track position through the undercut.
However, the bold move made no difference. In fact, Max Verstappen’s situation deteriorated further, and he found himself outside the points-paying positions. As he attempted to mount a comeback, Verstappen resorted to aggressive driving, including a highly risky overtake on Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton. In the extremely fast Turn 4, Verstappen dived down the inside of car number 44, forcing the seven-time world champion to run off track in order to avoid a collision. The incident prompted the FIA race stewards to summon both drivers for a post-race investigation.
After making a second pit stop, Max Verstappen’s frustrating race finally came to an end in ninth place—shockingly, even behind the Racing Bulls car of his former Red Bull teammate Liam Lawson. It was one of the most disappointing results of his season.
Asked about the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Max Verstappen did not hold back. “What do you want me to say? Honestly, nothing. It was really horrible. The entire weekend was just a disaster. So in that sense, I’m not even that shocked—it was heading in this direction already,” he said, openly expressing his dismay.
Commenting on the team’s strategy, Max Verstappen was equally blunt. “It was impossible to overtake. That’s the fundamental issue when you’re stuck in the middle of the pack. It was simply terrible. There was really nothing we could do. If your car performs this badly all weekend, you don’t even get any useful information because nothing is working the way it should,” he said.
Finally, when asked about being called to the stewards’ office over the Hamilton incident, Verstappen appeared annoyed and dismissive. “I don’t understand why we even have to go to the stewards for that…”
The result in Hungary raises serious questions for Red Bull Racing, whose dominance in past seasons is now looking increasingly fragile. For Max Verstappen, it was a weekend to forget—but also one that may underline broader issues with the team’s 2025 Formula 1 campaign.
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