Max Verstappen‘s sixth place in the last Bahrain Grand Prix and a confrontation between the Dutchman’s representative and Helmut Marko, as reported by Sky Sports journalist Ted Kravitz, have clouded the atmosphere in Milton Keynes.
A very poor Red Bull in 2025 puts Max Verstappen at risk: “We run the risk of losing him.”
Because despite Verstappen securing an exceptional victory in Japan, taking advantage of the circumstances, what happened last weekend in Shakir, with a very poor performance and results far from the top positions, meant that the Red rBull driver could only finish sixth and was very critical of the potential of his RB21.
It was Marko himself who summed up what happened last weekend, openly expressing his concern about the possible departure of the four-time world champion. Meanwhile, Aston Martin is waiting for the opportunity to sign him.
The worst news is that the Austrian advisor himself has not set a date for a leap in quality for the car: “In the short term, there is nothing we can do technically. At least when we are in Europe, we hope to see progress.”
It was at this point that Helmut Marko dropped the bombshell: ”But with a performance like this, we will not be able to defend our world title. And that’s not good because we risk losing Max Verstappen,” he said in statements reported by SoyMotor. This completely contradicts the Austrian director’s own words when the Dutchman won the championship in 2024: ‘He has a contract until 2028 and he’s going to earn a lot more with us,’ he said at the time. Something that has changed completely in just four months.
“There is nothing we can do technically.”
Marko is aware that the Austrian team must make changes to reverse the negative trend, but without identifying a specific solution: “We have very good staff, but they need to reflect on themselves and everyone must be open and honest. We know the car is not competitive, but why?” he said.
Marko had tried to justify the team’s performance by pointing out that, despite tire wear, the RB21 still showed good pace on certain laps, even matching the McLarens. However, Max Verstappen completely disagreed with this assessment. “I don’t agree with that,” he said before emphasizing that the problems extend to both qualifying and racing.
“I think in general we are bad on one lap and also bad in races, especially against McLaren. Compared to Ferrari and Mercedes, we could have a little more chance, but yesterday we weren’t good in the long run either,” said the Dutchman.
Beyond the result, what is most worrying in Milton Keynes is the trend. “This race has highlighted some problems that we have very clearly and that we need to solve quickly. We understand where they are, but implementing the solutions takes more time,” acknowledged Horner, who, despite everything, has confidence in the technical team: “They have built some of the best cars in the world in recent years. We can turn this situation around.”
Red Bull, which last year scored a one-two finish with Max and Sergio Pérez on the same track as this latest Grand Prix, was unable to compete with McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, and even Alpine at certain points. “This year we are even worse with the tires. It makes everything very difficult,” lamented Verstappen, aware that, despite his sixth place, little more could be squeezed out of the car on Sunday.
Max Verstappen can activate his performance clause and break his contract with Red Bull
Red Bull has already suffered the loss of its guru since 2006, Adrian Newey, who left to make Aston Martin a winner, although the official version is that the team did not need him anyway.
That is where, if Max Verstappen decided to activate the performance clauses in his contract (until 2028) and leave early, the leaders of the energy drink company would struggle to sell the same theory again.
“Ultimately, you can mask it a little bit through setup, and we were able to do that last weekend in Suzuka,” Horner said in his post-race meeting with the media. ”But I think this race has highlighted some issues that we have and that we need to fix quickly. We understand where the problems are; it’s introducing the solutions that obviously takes a little more time,” he concluded.