Red Bull suffered from another Grand Prix weekend plagued with issues at the Hungarian GP, as the team’s poor form continues in 2025.

Max Verstappen‘s current four-race streak without a podium is the longest the Dutchman has gone without tasting champagne after a race since the start of the 2018 season.

The reigning world champion has already ruled himself out of winning another race this season. By publicly saying this, Bernie Collins thinks Verstappen has demotivated Red Bull staff who work tirelessly to try and fix the issues he is facing with the RB21.

Verstappen’s frustrations have put Pierre Wache under pressure, with the exit of Christian Horner at the start of July making the technical director’s position at the team vulnerable.

Laurent Mekies and Helmut Marko didn’t have much of an explanation for Red Bull’s lack of pace

Speaking in a Q&A episode of The Race F1 Podcast, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm pointed out something worrying he heard from Laurent Mekies after he brushed off Red Bull’s grip issues, saying, “I was a little bit worried about that.

“You say it was just a tyre thing because it just did feel a little bit like Helmut Marko and Laurent Mekies were just being a little bit too much, ‘Oh, it’s definitely going to be a one-off because this is just too weird.’ That just seemed to be the extent of the explanation they had for it.

“I just thought it was odd because obviously that won’t be all that they do. But considering they were openly saying, ‘Well, we don’t know what the problem was, otherwise we would have changed it.’

“I don’t see how you can say that and then be so convinced like they were that it would be a one-off. I’m sure that’s based on the fact that they’ve done a lot of experiments over the weekend.

“So once they’ve had time to reflect afterwards and done their analysis, they’ll see the root causes and they’ll know how to address it for the future. But it did feel a little bit convenient to just go, ‘It’s just getting the tyres to work’, as if that’s going to be just like the only time this season that becomes a factor.”

The Hungarian Grand Prix was Max Verstappen’s most difficult weekend yet in the 2025 F1 season

Verstappen’s P8 grid slot for the Hungarian GP was his worst qualifying performance of the season. The Dutchman’s race pace in the RB21 wasn’t any better, with him trundling home in ninth place to add just two points to his championship tally.

David Croft was surprised at Red Bull for not being able to turn the poor performance around in between practice and qualifying. The Sky Sports F1 commentator noted how an increase in performance in qualifying after some tough practice sessions has become common for the team this season.

Despite his difficulties in recent rounds, Verstappen is still clinging onto his third-place spot in the drivers’ standings, mainly thanks to his wins earlier in the season at Suzuka and Imola.

George Russell is hot on his heels, however. The Brit’s podium in Hungary saw the Mercedes driver eat into Verstappen’s advantage, which now stands at a very slim 15 points. The upcoming Dutch Grand Prix will be a sight for Verstappen’s sore eyes, where the Orange Army will, in no doubt, be out in full force.