Max Verstappen told he is wrong as new Red Bull F1 chief stamps his authority
Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has rejected claims made by leading driver Max Verstappen that the team will not win another race before the season ends after they were miles off the pace in Hungary at the weekend.
Verstappen, who qualified in eighth, came home on Sunday in ninth, behind the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson. The Dutchman had already all but conceded the title with the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri too far ahead of the rest.
Red Bull's pace has tailed off over the past 12 months and that has seen Verstappen's dominance end. This season he's managed to win just two of the 14 races and he believes that his win at Imola in May is likely going to be his last until next season.
After his struggles in Budapest the world champion was asked whether he could still win another race this year and emphatically told Dutch media: 'No, not the way things are going right now. That's just the way it is. It's clear.'
His new boss, Mekies, who has replaced Christian Horner, doesn't buy into Verstappen's negative approach however whilst admitting they were off it in Hungary. However the Red Bull team principal is confident they can still mix it with the leaders at certain tracks.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen 'killed' career of F1 star but now top teams are considering him again
He said: 'I don't think what you see this weekend represents where the car is at. We accept the fact that we are probably not very strong on tracks like here, but what we have seen today was outstanding. So, if you look, no question McLaren are faster, but look at Spa, Max was able to fight certainly on Saturday and surprise everyone in the sprint. So, let's see.
'The season is still very long. Even if car development is going to heavily slow down or is pretty much going to be minimum from now on, we still have a lot of things we can learn, as this weekend showed. And through that, as difficult and as uncomfortable as it is, fundamentally you learn through these sorts of weekends. So better to have them early on.
'We will learn and if we are able to extract a bit more of the car, thanks to weekends like today, then hopefully we can put up a better fight.'
Verstappen currently sits third in the championship, but is nearly 100 points off current leader Piastri. He's immediate concern is likely to be George Russell in fourth. Red Bull's lack of pace is reflected in them being fourth in the teams' standings, behind McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, which is partly down to the poor results achieved by Yuki Tsunoda.
Verstappen has confirmed he will race with Red Bull in 2026 despite there being huge talk of a move to Mercedes. A major change to the regulations will take place next season but the Dutch driver has chosen to remain committed to the Austrian outfit with the field set for a potential reshuffle.
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