Max Verstappen Disagrees With Red Bull Advisor: 'Helmut is Not in the Car!'
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Max Verstappen has downplayed Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko's optimistic claim that the 2025 championship was still within Verstappen's reach. Marko commented after the British Grand Prix, where Verstappen secured fifth place.
Marko is known for staying positive when it comes to the four-time world champion. However, the 2025 season has been challenging for Red Bull, a stark contrast to the dominance it enjoyed from 2022 until the first half of the 2024 season.
The team has been struggling to solve the problems on its RB21 car, and the resurgence of other teams, mainly McLaren and Mercedes, has had a significant impact on Red Bull's results.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris occupy the top two spots in the Drivers' Standings, followed by Verstappen in third. Despite the points difference between Verstappen and Piastri being significant, it would still be mathematically possible for Verstappen to secure his fifth title if the tables were turned again.
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with Dr Helmut Marko, Team Consultant of Oracle Red Bull Racing in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium...
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with Dr Helmut Marko, Team Consultant of Oracle Red Bull Racing in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 25, 2025 in Spa, Belgium. MoreMarko revealed after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone that, despite the setbacks for Verstappen, the championship cannot be "written off" just yet. He said:
"Fifth place ultimately for Max in Silverstone, a week earlier, the early retirement in Austria due to Antonelli's ramming. That doesn't make Verstappen's title defence any easier, but we're far from writing off the title."
However, judging from RB21's performance in the first 12 rounds until the British GP, Verstappen said ahead of the Belgian GP that he preferred being realistic, downplaying Marko's claims. He told the Dutch media:
"Helmut is not in the car!
"I understand that you have to be positive about it. On the other hand, I am always very realistic about what I feel in the car. And when I look at certain onboards of other cars, I know enough."
Following his sprint race victory at Spa-Francorchamps, Verstappen qualified P4 for the main race hours later. Addressing what changed in qualifying, the Red Bull driver said:
"We opted a little bit [on the set up] looking for tomorrow, but somehow, the balance didn't really improve with that change, and that's a bit weird," the Red Bull driver explained.
"Especially in Q3, the first set felt awful. The second set, we tried something else, and it just didn't give me any grip starting the lap.
"So I had a lot of wheelspin starting the lap out of the last corner, and the same thing happened out of Turn 1. I just lost two tenths on my own lap time already, which is not ideal.
"From there, we tried to catch up a bit of lap time. Of course, without that problem in Turn 1, you look quite ok, you are quite close to the McLarens. But overall, it's not been a very good Qualifying."
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