In the 2024 Formula 1 season, there was a lot of speculation about Max Verstappen’s departure from Red Bull Racing. As is well known, this did not happen. In order for it to stay that way in the future, his team has to fulfill at least one of his wishes.
Max Verstappen in a Mercedes? In a Ferrari? Or even in a McLaren or Aston Martin? As far-fetched as this idea seems today, a Red Bull farewell for the four-time world champion in the 2024 season seemed so close. The quarrels surrounding the racing team have not left the Dutchman unaffected either. There was a lot of speculation, including from reliable sources, about a possible switch to the competition.
But that no longer plays a role for the champion. “I’m happy where I am,” he made it clear in the “Blick” interview. But what Verstappen also said: His stay at Red Bull is not only linked to a competitive car.
“One condition of mine is always the same: my discoverer and sponsor Helmut [Marko] “We have to stay,” he demanded of the team that had almost thrown Marko out the door in the spring. That’s one of the reasons why the discussions surrounding Verstappen’s departure gained rapid momentum during this time.
This was what bothered Verstappen the most in the Formula 1 season
As far as the 2025 season is concerned, the Dutchman did not want to make a prediction yet. “But if we can correct certain weaknesses over the winter, we will be back at the forefront,” he believes. He described the RB20’s lack of balance as its biggest weakness, “because you simply couldn’t get into the small temperature window. Then you wander around a bit violently.”
This became noticeable from the middle of the season when the competition suddenly had better material. When asked whether he might have become world champion earlier in a McLaren or a Ferrari last season, the four-time world champion said with a smile: “At McLaren I would answer this question with a clear yes, at Ferrari I would be I’m not so sure.”
The worst thing for him last year was “that we didn’t understand what was going wrong,” Verstappen said, remembering the phase in which his car simply stopped working. After just “three wins,” the team realized that there was a “bigger problem,” said the Dutchman.
Verstappen: Trouble with Christian Horner was “not nice”
What also bothered Verstappen, in addition to the qualities of his car, was the anger surrounding team boss Christian Horner. He thinks the whole story would have been completely different just a few years ago – under the leadership of former boss Dietrich Mateschitz.
“Of course the matter wasn’t pretty, but I maintain that with Didi Mateschitz this case would have been solved very quickly,” complained the Dutchman that the racing team simply lacked a leader at this stage who could have given a clear and unequivocal say.