Red Bull moves to reassure Verstappen after Dutch star voices frustration

Max Verstappen’s comments after the Japanese Grand Prix sent shockwaves through Formula 1. Speaking to the BBC, the Dutch star admitted he’s struggling to enjoy racing right now:

“I can easily accept to be in P7 or P8 where I am,” Verstappen told BBC reporter Jennie Gow. “I’m very realistic in that and I’ve been there before. I’ve not only been winning in F1, but at the same time when you are in P7 or P8 and you are not enjoying the whole formula behind it, it doesn’t feel natural to a racing driver. Of course I try to adapt to it, but it’s not nice the way you have to race. It’s really anti-driving. Then at one point, yeah, it’s just not what I want to do. I’m thinking about everything inside this paddock”.

Those words—combined with other reports—have raised real questions about Verstappen’s long‑term future in F1 if things don’t change. It’s a scenario neither fans nor Red Bull want to contemplate, and the team is doing everything it can to calm the waters.

That’s the message from team principal Laurent Mekies, who told Sky Sports F1 he’s had “zero discussions” about Verstappen’s future. “We have a lot of work to do. I’m sure by the time we give him a fast car, he will be a much happier Max. By the time we give him a car he can push and make the difference with, he will also be a happier Max. Honestly that’s 100 per cent of our discussions right now.”

So when will that happen?

Before Red Bull can fix the problem, they need to understand exactly where they stand—and Mekies didn’t sugarcoat it.

“In China we took a step back. At certain speeds and in certain types of corners, we’re losing performance compared to what our car should be delivering. In Japan we were a bit better than in China, especially in the race, but the overall gap is clear: we’re one second off Mercedes and half a second behind Ferrari.”

The team hopes that gap will shrink significantly by the Miami Grand Prix in about a month. “We need the time to simulate back what we see in the data into the tunnel, into our simulator, try some sensitivities and all of that we can do without racing,” Mekies said. “Does it mean you come to Miami and you have solved everything as a miracle? No, but again, am I confident that the team will get to the bottom of that understanding and start bringing improvements already in Miami. That’s what we will see but only the track and the lap time will give us an indication on whether we go into the right directions.”

Still, he cautioned against expecting instant miracles. “I don’t think we should expect miracles about the amplitude of closing the gap because it is substantial but what we would like to see is to have a car where our drivers can push again, measure a gap to competitions in these conditions when we are able to push and then the rest will be pure development to the end of the year.”

Meetings on the rules during the break

With Bahrain and Saudi Arabia off the calendar this month, April’s break gives teams time to focus on more than just car development. One major topic: improving the racing itself.

“As per the regulations, they are coming with some good aspects and more tricky aspects and as a sport, with the other teams, we will meet in the break to see how we can tweak them to make things better,” Mekies concluded.

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