Max Verstappen is still not getting carried away by talk of a fifth Formula 1 world championship in 2025 after a remarkable turnaround for his Red Bull squad.
The reigning champion has won the previous two grands prix in Monza and Baku from pole, leaving him 69 points behind leader Oscar Piastri, whose McLaren team-mate Lando Norris splits the pair with seven rounds remaining.
It marks a resurgence for Red Bull, which had dropped behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes in the pecking order since dominating the 2022 and 2023 world championships.
A revised floor for Monza plus understanding “more about the car”, per Verstappen, has been credited for Red Bull’s resurgence leading to suggestions about the Dutchman retaining his title.
But Verstappen has rubbished said talk, telling Sky Sports F1: “It’s a lot. Basically, everything needs to go perfect from my side, and then a bit of luck from their side.”
Verstappen still branded the last two races as “amazing”, as Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko told ORF the “hope has been revived” at the Austrian outfit which has now won four races this year.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Ozan Kose / AFP via Getty Images
The biggest takeaway for Marko from Baku was that “Monza was not a one-off event”, as initial talk suggested the smooth, low-downforce nature of the Italian track favoured Red Bull.
“The trend is that it’s not the same circuit, it’s also not so much similar, and we struggled here the last two years,” said Marko, as Red Bull finished off the Baku podium in 2024, although finished 1-2 in 2023.
“It shows that the car has made a big step forward, the window is wider but also the way how to set up, how to go into the weekend – we have a different approach, which we already discussed, and it’s working.”
But the real test is next in Singapore. Not one of Verstappen’s 67 grand prix victories have come in the Asian country, while Singapore’s bumpy, hot and high-downforce characteristics tend to hurt Red Bull, with 2023 being the perfect example of that as it was Verstappen’s only non-podium that year.
Marko therefore reckons the race in two weeks’ time is the litmus test of whether Verstappen has a chance of launching a late title challenge.
“It’s not only high downforce, it’s bloody hot always there, which our car also doesn’t seem to like so much. So it will be the real benchmark where we are,” he said.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
This comes after McLaren boss Andrea Stella revealed on Saturday that his team has still not ruled out Verstappen, a comment Piastri and Norris doubled down on following the Sunday race.
“I think that’s the optimism of Andrea,” said Marko. “I hope it would be like that, but I will think about that after Singapore. If we are competitive in Singapore, then maybe we can start dreaming.”
Red Bull has been a one-driver team for several years now as Verstappen has churned through team-mates, who have all struggled since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure at the end of 2018.
His current team-mate is Yuki Tsunoda, who has continued that theme as the 25-year-old is 17th in the standings after replacing Liam Lawson from round three of this year.
But Tsunoda’s form has picked up with two points finishes across the last three grands prix, which includes sixth in Baku and that perhaps highlights how much easier the RB21 is to drive.
“Definitely we are more confident in the coming races to perform better, so I’m sure we’re not giving up with this season – especially securing the drivers’ championship for Max,” said Tsunoda, whose position at Red Bull is still under threat for 2026.
“So, I try to extract performance as much as possible from the car, and also at the same time, if I can support him that will be good.”
Additional reporting by Ronald Vording
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