Max Verstappen admits that it might not be possible to win another Grand Prix this season, but he wants to see Red Bull that more consistency shows before 2026.
The defending champion has slipped 97 points behind the Oscar Piastri championship leader after a series of four races without a stage – albeit with a sprint victory in Belgium – and only achieved two Grand Prix victories in the first part of the year. Although he acknowledges that he is not in the title fight this year, Verstappen believes that there are still important lessons to learn the rest of the season and point to improve the predictability of the car as an important target after the summer vacation.
“We always want a considerable finish,” said Verstappen. “Of course the focus is already a lot for everyone at 2026. But what we should try to achieve is more consistent behavior and results at the end of the day.
“Don’t know [if wins are possible]. After a weekend like [Hungary]It is very difficult to say. But you never know. There can always be surprises or whatever. “
Verstappen is also pragmatic about the fight of Red Bull and said that it was inevitable that his run of four consecutive championships would end at some point.
“I just stay neutral (over) everything. So I am not overly optimistic or pessimistic or whatever,” he said. “[Ahead of 2025] I had something like: “Well, we’ll see.” Of course I hope that we can still win some races here and there. And we still did that. We still won two races. But yes, it’s hard.
“But on the other hand you also have to acknowledge that McLaren has also done fantastic work from last year until this year. And from our side it was a bit harder.
‘[The recent form] Is of course no surprise if you look at the problems we have. On the other hand, I have had a lot of good results for four years. So it comes and goes, good luck. “
A big recent change came in the form of Laurent Mekies who replaced Christian Horner as Red Bull Team Principal. Verstappen believes that Mekies has made a positive start in his new role.
“He is very broad -minded,” he said. “Of course it will only get better and better – the communication we have – but things are going really well.”
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