Red Bull’s Max Verstappen: “We want a more balanced car and consistent results to close 2025”. Max Verstappen aims to finish the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The challenges of Max Verstappen
Recent disappointing results, with four consecutive races off the podium, have definitively ended Max Verstappen’s title ambitions for 2025. The Red Bull star, after months of speculation and more or less subtle flirtations with Toto Wolff’s Mercedes, has decided to remain in Milton Keynes despite uncertainties. These doubts are not only tied to the current technical situation—where the RB21 is often the third or even fourth fastest car on track—but also to the upcoming Red Bull-Ford power unit, set to debut next season and not yet considered among the favorites for the new regulatory era.

Super Max on the second half of the 2025 championship
Before thinking about the future, Verstappen must focus on finishing the current season on a positive note, maintaining morale, and avoiding a long drought of podiums and victories. “The goal is always to finish the season in a dignified way, obviously,” Max Verstappen told the American magazine Racer, “even if everyone is already focused on 2026. What we want now is to try to get a better balance in the car and, ultimately, achieve more consistent results. I don’t know if we will be able to win again, and after a weekend like Hungary, where I finished ninth, it’s very hard to say. But you never know, and there could still be surprises.”

“I just remain neutral about everything,” he added, “so I don’t become overly optimistic or pessimistic or anything else. Before 2025, I thought, ‘Well, we’ll see.’ Naturally, I hope we can still win a few races here and there. And we have done that—we won two—but it’s still tough. On the other hand, we have to acknowledge that McLaren has done an excellent job from last year to this year. From our side, it’s been a bit more difficult to keep up. Our recent form isn’t surprising, considering the problems we are facing. On the other hand, over the past four years, I have achieved really strong results. Success in Formula 1 comes and goes.”

Praise for Laurent Mekies
Verstappen also took the opportunity to express high praise for the new Red Bull team principal and CEO, Laurent Mekies, who in July succeeded Christian Horner, ending the British manager’s reign of more than 20 years: “His mentality is very open and proactive. Naturally, the communication between us can only improve, but in the meantime, things are going very well,” concluded Max Verstappen.