Red Bull Racing senior advisor Helmut Marko has admitted that it is “impossible” for Max Verstappen to secure his fifth championship title this year. The four-time world champion is currently placed third in the Drivers’ Standings with 187 points. The gap to the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, with 284 points, is 97 points.
The 2025 season is being dominated by McLaren, as Red Bull continues to struggle with the RB21 F1 car. Verstappen’s team enjoyed a dominant period in the current ground effect era that began in 2022. However, things changed drastically in the second half of the 2024 season, when balance problems on Red Bull’s car hindered the team’s title challenge.
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Red Bull lost its position in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship to McLaren and Ferrari, while Verstappen secured his fourth title, courtesy of the points he built up in the first half of the season. In the current campaign, Red Bull has been unable to solve car problems thus far, with both Verstappen and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda struggling considerably.
Last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix saw Verstappen start from eighth, but he ended up crossing the finish line in P9. Tsunoda, who started from the pit lane due to an engine penalty, finished in P17.
Related: Yuki Tsunoda Suffers Hungarian GP Setback With Pit Lane Start Penalty
Marko, who believed until recently that Verstappen was in the championship mix, confirmed after Sunday’s race at the Hungaroring that he is not in the race anymore. He told the media:
“It’s impossible, clearly.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris won the Hungarian GP by opting for a one-stop strategy. Considering the difficulty in overtaking, Marko said that Red Bull should have opted for a similar strategy, as opposed to the two-stop strategy that backfired for Verstappen. The 82-year-old advisor said:
“[Red Bull’s performance was] inferior, but I think one stop would have been better, because overtaking was really difficult.
“So maybe sixth or fifth [was possible], but the speed, which was funny, two or three laps, [Verstappen] was doing the same laps like the leaders, 1:19.5, but we believe we know what went wrong.”
“The first stops, the tyres were gone, and the second stop, we thought we could overtake. But as we saw for a couple of laps, yes, the speed was there, but then it was over.”
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