Max Verstappen’s Calm Words Hide a Crisis at Red Bull

When Max Verstappen sat down for his latest interview with Formula1.com, his words seemed almost too relaxed for a man watching his dominance collapse. The four-time world champion insisted that he was “not too worried” about falling out of the title fight. At face value, it sounded like maturity — a champion accepting that Formula 1 is cyclical. But beneath the calm surface lies a story that should terrify every Red Bull fan: their era of supremacy is unraveling faster than anyone expected.

From Untouchable to Vulnerable

Between 2021 and 2024, Verstappen was nearly untouchable. He won 56 of 65 races in that stretch — an astonishing 86% win rate — turning Sunday afternoons into predictable coronations. His rivals weren’t just beaten; they were crushed. Fifteen wins in a single season became routine, and his name was etched alongside the sport’s greatest dynasties.

Fast-forward to 2025, and the numbers paint a jarring contrast. According to the official Formula 1 records, Verstappen has won just two Grands Prix all season — in Japan and Emilia-Romagna. For a man accustomed to hoarding victories, two wins feel almost unthinkable.

Worse still, the championship standings are brutal. Verstappen sits 97 points behind leader Oscar Piastri with only ten rounds left. That’s nearly four race wins worth of points — a chasm in Formula 1 terms. Red Bull, meanwhile, is floundering in fourth place in the Constructors’ standings. Out of their 194 points this season, Verstappen has scored all but seven. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda has effectively become a passenger, exposing just how far the once-dominant machine has fallen.

A Calm Response That Masks Alarm

In his interview, Verstappen tried to frame the struggles as nothing unusual.

“I had many years before that where I didn’t have a winning car. So that’s Formula 1 and you know that. So it’s not a very hard thing to do.”

The media painted this as grace under pressure — a mature champion showing perspective. But insiders whisper a far more alarming truth. Beneath Verstappen’s calm, Red Bull is dealing with a technical and structural crisis that threatens to derail more than just this season.

The Technical Death Spiral

According to engineering analysis from Motorsport.com and The Race, the RB21 is fundamentally flawed. Verstappen himself admitted after the Hungarian Grand Prix that “something is fundamentally wrong” with the car.

The core issue is a narrow operating window. Small changes in track temperature or setup cause the car’s balance to collapse. This leaves Verstappen and his engineers constantly chasing stability through endless tweaks — with little success. Team radio broadcasts often capture his frustration as each attempted fix fails to bring consistency.

Then comes the tire problem. Multiple reports, including RacingNews365, confirm that the RB21 cannot manage tire temperatures, particularly in medium-speed corners. This overheating creates a chain reaction:

Overheated tires → inconsistent braking

Inconsistent braking → lock-ups and loss of confidence

Lost confidence → even worse tire management

The result is a vicious feedback loop that Verstappen has described as “impossible to drive around.”

Aerodynamic data is equally damning. Compared to McLaren — the benchmark team of 2025 — Red Bull is losing 0.3 to 0.5 seconds per lap in race conditions. In Formula 1, that margin is enormous, the difference between fighting for wins and barely scraping podiums.

The Newey Void

The technical crisis is compounded by an exodus of leadership. Adrian Newey, the legendary designer behind Red Bull’s golden era, has departed. His absence has left a gaping hole in the team’s development direction.

New team principal Laurent Mekies is overseeing what insiders describe as a “rebuilding phase,” attempting to restructure the engineering culture. But calling it a phase might be optimistic. When a team loses its design mastermind, struggles with fundamental car balance, and has its superstar driver writing off a season, that isn’t a phase. That’s crisis management.

Verstappen Plays the Long Game

Here’s where Verstappen’s response becomes fascinating. At the Hungarian Grand Prix, he marked his 200th race with Red Bull. His career win rate with the team sits at 32.5%, making him one of the most successful drivers in history with a single outfit. If he stays until 2027, he’ll surpass Lewis Hamilton’s record for the longest stint with one team.

Yet in his comments to Formula1.com, Verstappen made something clear:

“I’m very focused on 2026 with the team, to look ahead and make sure that we nail the regulations.”

Read between the lines, and it’s obvious. Verstappen has written off 2025. He’s already shifted his mindset to 2026, when sweeping new technical regulations will reset the playing field.

Betting on 2026

The 2026 rules overhaul will transform aerodynamics and power units, creating the biggest shake-up since 2014. Red Bull is banking everything on nailing these changes. Verstappen, tied to the team until 2028, has little choice but to double down.

But the problem is clear: if Red Bull can’t fix today’s issues, why should anyone believe they can master tomorrow’s? McLaren’s rise has been built not just on a fast car but on a robust development philosophy. Their MCL cars are adaptable, performing across circuits and conditions. That kind of process advantage often compounds under new rules, rather than disappearing.

The Risk of a Wasted Prime

Verstappen is only 27 years old — theoretically just entering his peak. Yet the risk is that his prime years could be squandered in a car incapable of fighting for championships. His contract extension to 2028 suddenly looks less about loyalty and more about giving Red Bull time to rebuild. He has staked four years of his career on their ability to deliver.

The haunting question: what if they can’t?

Formula 1 history is filled with “what if” stories. What if Fernando Alonso had stayed with Renault? What if Sebastian Vettel had left Red Bull earlier? Verstappen could join that list: the most naturally gifted driver of his generation, left stranded while rivals seized the titles he might have claimed.

Calm or Complacent?

To the public, Verstappen’s calm demeanor looks like composure. To insiders, it looks like strategy. By acknowledging the lost cause of 2025, he is mentally resetting for the long game. He’s seen Red Bull rebuild before. He joined the team in 2016, when they were far from dominant, and watched them climb back to the top. He believes they can do it again.

But patience has limits. If Red Bull falters again in 2026, Verstappen will face a career-defining decision: stay loyal and risk wasting his prime, or walk away and chase success elsewhere.

The Beginning of a New Era?

For now, McLaren’s rise feels unstoppable, while Ferrari and Mercedes lurk with hungry young drivers and improving packages. Red Bull’s grip on Formula 1 has loosened, and Verstappen’s dominance no longer feels inevitable.

When he says he’s “not too worried,” perhaps he’s not lying. Perhaps he’s already accepted that the next ten races are meaningless in the bigger picture. But for Red Bull fans, that acceptance is exactly what’s most frightening. Because if Max Verstappen — the ultimate competitor, the man who once refused to accept second place under any circumstance — no longer believes this season is worth fighting for, then the Red Bull dynasty may truly be over.

The calm is not comfort. It’s calculation. And it may mark the quiet beginning of Formula 1’s next great “what if” story.