New Red Bull F1 team principal in Max Verstappen disagreement

Max Verstappen, Laurent Mekies, Red Bull, Belgium, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

New Red Bull F1 team principal in Max Verstappen disagreement

Max Verstappen isn't sure about how much more success he can produce in 2025

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 6 August 2025 08:27 Updated: 14:23

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New Red Bull F1 team principal Laurent Mekies has disagreed with comments made by star driver Max Verstappen following the Hungarian Grand Prix.

After a torrid race weekend in which he qualified eighth and finished ninth, Verstappen made his thoughts about the team's RB21 known, suggesting Red Bull will not win another race in the 2025 campaign.

Verstappen has only managed to pick up two race wins in the first 14 races of the year, but has also racked up three second-place finishes, and was believed to be in a championship fight at the start of the season.

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Now sat 97 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri in the drivers' championship, it's become clear that Red Bull's season is all about trying to break into the top three in the constructors' championship, and maybe pick up a few extra wins along the way.

However, when asked whether he could still win another race this year, Verstappen told Dutch media: "No, not the way things are going right now. That’s just the way it is. It’s clear."

Following a poor season filled with disappointing results - particularly for number two driver Yuki Tsunoda - Red Bull opted to replace long-serving team principal Christian Horner last month, with Laurent Mekies instead coming in to take over the role.

Laurent Mekies replaced Christian Horner last month

When asked about Verstappen's comments, Mekies was much more up beat about the remainder of the Milton Keynes outfit's season, with the new colleagues clearly in disagreement.

Mekies reflected a much more positive outlook on his new team's potential, saying: "It was a tough weekend, I don't think what you see this weekend represents where the car is at.

"We accept the fact that we are probably not very strong on tracks like here, but what we have seen today was outstanding.

"So, 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. So, let's see.

"The season is still very long. Even if car development is going to heavily slow down or is pretty much going to be minimum from now on, we still have a lot of things we can learn, as this weekend showed.

"And through that, as difficult and as uncomfortable as it is, fundamentally you learn through these sorts of weekends. So better to have them early on. We will learn and if we are able to extract a bit more of the car, thanks to weekends like today, then hopefully we can put up a better fight," the Frenchman concluded.

Will Verstappen win another championship with Red Bull?

After four consecutive drivers' title wins, Verstappen is likely out of contention for the sport's biggest prize this season.

Months of speculation surrounding Verstappen's future due to his team's poor form was put to bed last weekend, when Verstappen defiantly stated beyond any doubt that he will be racing with Red Bull in 2026.

But how competitive will the team be next year? The Milton Keynes-based outfit are entering into a new era of power unit production just as F1 undergoes a radical set of regulation changes.

Should Red Bull give Verstappen a car capable of challenging for a championship next year, you'd back him to be able to convert that into another title. However, if they don't, Red Bull will likely struggle to keep hold of the Dutchman, with a number of other drivers' contracts expiring at the end of 2026, and with Verstappen by then knowing which team has mastered the regulation changes.

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Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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Red Bull Max Verstappen McLaren Hungarian Grand Prix Laurent Mekies