Ralf Schumacher makes bold Max Verstappen Racing Bulls title statement

Ralf Schumacher has sensationally claimed that Max Verstappen could fight for the world title if he was driving for Racing Bulls.

After winning the last four world championships, Verstappen looks set to miss out on this year’s crown to one of the McLaren drivers.

The Dutchman has picked up three victories this year, including a dominant drive at the Italian Grand Prix last time out, but is 94 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri and 63 points adrift of Lando Norris.

Verstappen can mathematically still become world champion but has effectively conceded he will not be able to defend his crown given Red Bull’s performance struggles throughout 2025.

But ex-F1 driver Schumacher, the younger brother of legendary seven-time world champion Michael, thinks Verstappen would be closer to the McLaren pair if he was driving this year’s Racing Bulls.

“I’d almost go as far as saying Max could theoretically fight for the championship with that car,” Schumacher told the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

“They’ve got data. The data is based on all of the factual information. So, they will know how the two cars compare from all that information.

“They’ll know how the two cars are performing using all of that data. The only thing they don’t have is Max’s input in terms of whether he would be half a second quicker in the RB, or maybe the car doesn’t suit him.”

Max Verstappen laughs off suggestion

Red Bull’s RB21 has a very narrow operating window while the Racing Bulls VCARB 02 car has proven to be relatively easy to drive, which has been demonstrated by the contrasting fortunes of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson.

Lawson was brutally demoted by Red Bull after two disastrous races but has turned around his season at Racing Bulls, while Tsunoda, who started the campaign well at Racing Bulls, has struggled to gel in the Red Bull.

This has prompted suggestions that Verstappen may be more competitive in the sister team.

Verstappen quickly poured cold water on the suggestions when they were put his way, laughing as he responded: “Well, let’s not talk about that.”

Not only would such an unprecedented swap be complicated by sponsorship obligations, it would likely raise eyebrows at rival teams and be a point of sensitivity from a political perspective.