Red Bull F1 made one fatal error which cost Max Verstappen world title

Red Bull

Red Bull made one fatal error which cost Max Verstappen the F1 world title

Should Red Bull have kept Sergio Perez?

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 30 April 2026 11:57

A former F1 team principal has claimed that Max Verstappen would have won the 2025 world championship had Red Bull not have made one crucial error.

Verstappen finished the season just two points behind eventual victor Lando Norris, despite having been driving a much more inconsistent car compared to Norris' McLaren, and the Dutchman even won more races than both Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen's exploits were made even more impressive by the fact that his team-mate Yuki Tusonda could not find any pace in the RB21 whatsoever, picking up just 30 points across 22 race weekends in the car.

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That meant that, despite Verstappen's best efforts in the drivers' championship, Red Bull finished third in the constructors' standings.

Now, former Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has said that Verstappen would have picked up the 2025 championship had Sergio Perez still been his team-mate.

Perez was axed from the outfit following the 2024 season, with Liam Lawson and later Tsunoda replacing the Mexican, who had helped Red Bull claim back-to-back constructors' titles in 2022 and 2023.

"Had they kept Sergio, he [Verstappen] would have won it," Szafnauer told the High Performance podcast. "He lost it to Lando by three [two] points. All they needed is a Sergio to supplant himself between a Max win and Lando a couple of times. Just do it once.

"If you have one time Max first, Sergio second - Max wins the championship. How many races did he win? Eight. So of those eight that Max won, you just needed a one-two once, right? So the car’s there, Max has won it, Suzuka, wherever. Just needed a one-two once and Max wins the championship."

Szafnauer continued: "If you remember, his first year there, he was known as the Ministry of Defence. And why was that? Because he was putting himself between Max and the others to defend Max for the win. All he had to do that [in 2025] was one time."

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How long will Verstappen stay at Red Bull?

While Red Bull's car in 2025 was inconsistent, Verstappen still managed to squeeze everything out of it and claim eight grand prix victories.

This year's car, however, seems destined for a midfield battle following the 2026 regulations overhaul.

Verstappen has not managed a better result than sixth in the three grand prix weekends so far, and the team are sat down in sixth in the constructors' championship.

It has led to rumours surrounding Verstappen's long-term future at Red Bull, despite technically speaking being contracted until the end of the 2028 season.

Mercedes have been linked with a move for the Dutchman in each of the past two seasons, while McLaren have recently signed Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase in what has been reported to be an extra carrot with which to dangle in front of the four-time world champion.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Sergio Perez Otmar Szafnauer