Red Bull star Max Verstappen dismisses Helmut Marko comments

Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen has dismissed comments made by senior Red Bull figure Helmut Marko regarding his championship chances.

Verstappen has won four titles consecutively in recent years but that streak looks set to end in 2025, with Red Bull not having the consistent pace to compete with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Despite that, prior to the race weekend in Belgium, Marko claimed that Verstappen's 69-point gap to championship leader Piastri was 'not impossible' to make up.

But speaking to media including GPFans last weekend, Verstappen clearly disagreed with the Austrian's optimism, saying: "Helmut is not in the car,"

"I understand that you have to be positive about it, but I am very realistic about what I feel in the car. When I look at certain onboards of other cars, I actually know enough."

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton issues frank response as F1 legend quizzed on Christian Horner axe

Verstappen trailing McLaren stars

Though the Dutchman may have triumphed over drivers' standings leader Piastri and his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in Saturday's sprint, he admitted that his RB21 was no match for the papaya machinery this season.

"Unfortunately, McLaren has obviously found something in terms of tyre degradation. You can see that much more strongly in the rain.

"Every time we have raced in the rain this year, we basically had no chance. Tomorrow will be no different," the 27-year-old stated ahead of Sunday's main event.

The rain-soaked affair in Spa was delayed as a result of the weather to Verstappen's dismay, but after only managing to secure a P4 finish, his gap to Piastri has now extended to 81 points, though Marko will surely continue to spread the message of hope whilst the title is still mathematically possible for his star driver.

This weekend, F1 heads to the Hungaroring for the 14th and final round of the season before the annual summer shutdown commences, and with wet weather potentially on the cards again, the result in Budapest could prove fatal to Verstappen's title battle that he appears to have already ruled himself out of.

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