How Max Verstappen's title charge may have harmed Red Bull's future

Red Bull F1 team principal Laurent Mekies has suggested that the pursuit of a fifth world championship title for Max Verstappen in 2025 may cost the team heading into next season.

Verstappen had fallen as far as 104 points away from the top of the championship at one stage of the season, but he and Red Bull produced a stunning fightback in the latter third of the season, eventually finishing within two points of champion Lando Norris.

The Dutchman won the final three grands prix of the year and came so close to that record-equalling fifth consecutive world title, but eventually walked away with the runner-up spot.

Heading into 2026, F1 is set to see wholesale regulation changes which may shake up the competitive order in F1, and the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are all trying to end McLaren's dominance and fight for championships.

But, Mekies has now said that Red Bull's pursuit of the drivers' championship with Verstappen may just have put them on the back foot when it comes to next season, having poured so much into trying to get closer to the McLarens' race pace.

"I think that, despite the two points we missed out on, it's historic how the team refused to abandon its goal of becoming champions in this hard-fought 2025 season," Mekies said at an end-of-season event. "Never giving up is a Red Bull characteristic.

"We tried to understand the car until the very end; we didn't want to stop development, and this might have a cost next year, but for us it was important to always be pushing the car to its limits."

Red Bull under pressure

While Verstappen will have appreciated the team's relentless pursuit of the championship for him last season, the Dutchman is the best driver of his generation, and will want to be in the best car.

His long-term future at Red Bull is regularly called into question, and he is understood to have some exit clauses in his lengthy contract that centre around Red Bull's ability to provide him with a championship-contending car.

If the team do fall back even further in 2026 having finished third in the constructors' championship for the last two seasons, then Verstappen will likely look for a seat elsewhere, with a plethora of drivers up and down the grid set to be out of contract at the end of 2026.

In this sense, Red Bull will be desperately trying to pull out all the stops to ensure that their star driver can mount some kind of a challenge for the title once more next year, otherwise they risk losing his services to another team.

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