Max Verstappen on what Red Bull need to beat “quite extraordinary” McLaren
“We need to start winning races more often. And how do we do that? By being more competitive.”
Max Verstappen has admitted “a lot needs to happen” for him to mount a serious title challenge against the two McLarens in F1 2025.
Verstappen reduced the gap to F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri following the Canadian Grand Prix to 43 points.
The gap would have been significantly less had it not been for Verstappen’s road rage at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he picked up a 10-second time penalty for colliding with George Russell.
Verstappen is looking to make F1 history this year by becoming just the second driver to win five consecutive titles - a feat only managed by Michael Schumacher between 2000 and 2004.
Speaking after the race in Montreal, Verstappen was adamant that Red Bull need to make further car improvements to have any chance of challenging for the title.
“A lot needs to happen for that, to be honest,” Verstappen said. “We need to start winning races more often. And how do we do that? By being more competitive.
“Now, this was a good weekend, but again, not competitive enough. Like I said before, we have our moments where maybe we can win here or there, but we just need to make the car faster. Then we make it a lot easier for ourselves. We’re working hard on it with the team.
“Of course, bits are coming, but is it going to be enough? I don’t know. It’s small margins in this world that can give you better results every single weekend.
“But what I think so far, what McLaren has shown this whole season is quite extraordinary and difficult to beat.
“So now, okay, one weekend is not as good, but they are still by far the favourites. And that’s not going to be something that is easily beaten. But the coming races, we really want to try and improve our car.”
McLaren setback in Canada
The Canadian GP on Sunday was the first time this season that neither McLaren driver finished on the podium.
Piastri finished fourth after losing out to Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap of the race.
Lando Norris failed to finish the race after an incident with teammate Piastri on Lap 67.
Red Bull launched a protest after the race in Canada against George Russell for unsportsmanlike behaviour under the Safety Car.
However, Red Bull were unsuccessful with their protest.
Since then, Toto Wolff has described Red Bull’s protest as “petty” and “embarrassing”.
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