Max Verstappen believes Red Bull will not win another Formula 1 race in 2025 after “nothing worked” last weekend in Hungary.
Verstappen qualified a season’s worst eighth and scored his worst finish of the year in ninth, behind the Racing Bulls of former team-mate Liam Lawson and was nearly lapped by race-winner Lando Norris.
The Dutchman won in Suzuka and Imola earlier this year with two standout performances but has stood just once on the podium in the last seven rounds.
Asked by the Dutch media in Budapest if Red Bull could win a third race this year, he replied: “No, not the way things are going right now. That’s just the way it is. It’s clear.
“There’s nothing I can do about it. I could get angry, but that won’t make the car any faster.”
Yuki Tsunoda had another dismal event with a fifth Q1 elimination of the season and struggled to a lonely 17th as his large deficit to Verstappen continued.
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Watch the race highlights from the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix
Verstappen, who confirmed last week that he will remain with Red Bull in 2026 after speculation of a shock move to Mercedes, says Red Bull will “investigate” their “weird” weekend.
“It has been a very difficult weekend. Very low grip and not much we could make out of it,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“It’s very complicated to explain. Nothing worked unfortunately. In Spa, we had a much more competitive weekend.
“I know we are not on the level of McLaren but they have also done a good job this year.”
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Verstappen confirms he is staying at Red Bull next season
Mekies ‘confident’ Hungary was a one-off
A week prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen won the Sprint in Belgium as he held off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Norris with a mistake-free performance.
Spa-Francorchamps features long straights and very few medium to low-speed corners, which played into Red Bull’s hands, whereas the Hungaroring requires a good change of direction and a car that has little understeer through the long-radius turns.
Red Bull have been strong on tracks that rely on aerodynamics but have been vulnerable when it comes to circuits which favour good mechanical grip.
The team have also masked their weaknesses by running a low downforce rear wing on Verstappen’s car, which helped him to pole position at Silverstone and the Belgian GP Sprint victory. However, it was not possible to run this specification of rear wing in Hungary due to the twisty track layout.
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Verstappen secures victory in the Belgian GP Sprint after holding off Oscar Piastri in the final lap
“I don’t think what you see this weekend represents where the car is at,” said Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies.
“We accept the fact that we are probably not very strong on tracks like here, but what we have seen today was outstanding.
“If you look, no question McLaren are faster, but look at Spa, Max was able to fight certainly on Saturday and surprise everyone in the sprint. Let’s see.”
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Verstappen threw a rag onto the track from his Red Bull in an unusual moment during second practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix
The 10 F1 teams are not expected to bring any more major upgrades this season as they turn their attention to the new 2026 cars.
Despite this, Mekies thinks Red Bull can gain performance from learning what went wrong in Hungary to extract more from the RB21.
“It will not change the fact that we have a narrow window,” he explained.
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Verstappen reacts after qualifying eighth around the Hungaroring
“But I think to be dramatically out of it like that, I’m also quite confident that with all the tests we’ve done in Budapest, including into the race, I’m quite confident also that it will be a one-off.
“It is true that it was mainly a slow-speed and a mid-speed matter. Therefore, it points towards more tyre usage and the tyre being switched on more than our performance.”
What tracks will Red Bull be competitive at?
There will be 10 more rounds after Formula 1’s summer break with the 2025 season resuming with Verstappen’s home event at Zandvoort.
The high-speed track should actually play to Red Bull’s strengths and provide an opportunity for Verstappen to at least fight for the podium. However, things could get tricky after that.
Italy’s Monza has never been a strong Red Bull track, then Baku and Singapore are street circuits that rely on mechanical grip due to the slow-speed corners.
Red Bull should be strong again at the Circuit of the Americas as that’s similar to Silverstone and may also be a threat again in Mexico City.
Brazil’s Interlagos features consecutive slow corners in the middle sector, which will be an issue, then Red Bull’s last realistic opportunity to challenge McLaren will likely come at the high-speed Losail International Circuit in Qatar, as the finale in Abu Dhabi has another twisty last sector.
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 29-31, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
