Max Verstappen admits to having Red Bull doubts amid F1 slump

Max Verstappen has admitted he wondered whether Red Bull would be able to turnaround their 2025 F1 season.

Red Bull have endured a challenging 2025 campaign that has largely been dominated by McLaren, effectively leading Verstappen to concede his title hopes were all but over just a handful of races ago.

However, back-to-back victories at the Italian and Azerbaijan grands prix have sparked talk that Verstappen could be back in championship contention, having closed the gap to Oscar Piastri to 69 points with seven rounds to go.

Perhaps more encouraging for Red Bull is the recent progress they have made in understanding their tricky-to-drive RB21 challenger, which has enabled the team to enjoy some rare momentum.

But four-time world champion Verstappen conceded he was not sure such a turnaround would be possible.

“In the end you always go through certain difficult moment,” the Dutchman said. “And of course, sometimes you do think, ‘Is this going to be okay, can we still turn things around?’

“But on the other hand, there’s no point to keep thinking like that. You always have to look for solutions, talk to people inside the team, and exchange ideas in a positive way.

“At the end of the day, that what it’s all about and that's what we have done.”

Do Red Bull finally understand 2025 car?

Both Verstappen and struggling teammate Yuki Tsunoda have made encouraging breakthroughs with the RB21 of late.

This progress has coincided with the arrival of new Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, who has an engineering background.

“We don’t need to try so many things with the car anymore. Not having to make those radical changes during a race weekend makes it much more enjoyable,” Verstappen said.

Asked if he is able to find the RB21’s peak operating window more often, Verstappen replied: “Yes. And that’s down to all the things we’ve learned about this car.”

Victories for Verstappen now taste all the more sweeter.

“We’ve experienced a lot of incredible moments together over the past years. So when you go through a tough period, of course, that’s not pleasant for anyone inside the team,” he added.

“When you see that things are going well again, that makes those wins extra special, especially because of how we got through the bad moments together. The atmosphere is very good now, and that is also important.

“It gives people a bit more confidence, and sometimes that confidence is really important. They see some light at the end of the tunnel again and know that what they’re working on is actually okay.”