Helmut Marko does not believe Max Verstappen can repeat last year’s remarkable title charge, insisting Red Bull’s rivals are now simply “too strong”.
Verstappen entered Formula 1’s summer break without a single Grand Prix win to his name having matched his worst run since 2020’s with 11 Grands Prix without a P1.
Helmut Marko doubts Max Verstappen can repeat last season’s title charge
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.
The Dutchman, though, is by no means out of the title fight.
Verstappen trails championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 100 points, but there are still 316 in play in the back half of the season – 300 Grand Prix points and 16 for the Sprints.
Last season Verstappen not only pulled back 104 points on Oscar Piastri in nine races, he also beat the McLaren by 11 points to finish runner-up in the championship.
Such were his and Red Bull’s gains, with six wins in the final nine races, Verstappen fell just two points short of winning a fifth successive world title.
Marko, though, doesn’t foresee a repeat performance this year.
Not only will Verstappen enter the second part of the season from a lower starting point, having yet to win a Grand Prix, but the competition is also more intense.
It’s not just Mercedes that he and Red Bull have to beat, Ferrari and McLaren are also in the mix.
Added to that, Verstappen is almost every session complaining to his race engineer GianPiero Lambaise about his RB22, whether that be the car’s upshifts or downshifts, the damping, or even the car being “broken aerodynamically”.
Former Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko reckons Red Bull isn’t, both internally and externally, are too great to expect another 2025 turnaround.
“They aren’t consistently fast. Moreover, things don’t seem to be going entirely smoothly between Max and the engineers,” Marko told Krone.
“The competition from McLaren and Ferrari is too strong, and the car is too unstable.
“I certainly wouldn’t bet on that.”
The team’s woes have led to reports that Verstappen is considering his options.
PlanetF1.com understands from sources the four-time world champion is nearing the end of negotiations with McLaren after which he’ll need to decide if he wants to stay with Red Bull, his “second family”, or take his chances with another team.
Verstappen had the right to trigger an exit clause in his Red Bull contract after Hungary as he was not inside the top two in the championship, lagging 60 points behind runner-up Lewis Hamilton.
Go deeper: Max Verstappen’s Red Bull contract
F1 driver contracts: What is the contract status of every driver on the F1 2026 grid?
F1 2026 driver salaries: Who are the highest-paid drivers on the grid?
Although Verstappen has called Red Bull his family, he outright refused to pin his colours to the mast when given the opportunity in Spa.
“I don’t want to go here and say yes and no, and this and that, about my future,” the four-time F1 World Champion said.
“I’ve said already many times that if there was something new, I would say it myself.”
Marko, although no longer with Red Bull, is hoping he sees out his contract that runs through to the end of 2028.
“I sincerely hope he stays,” Marko simply said.
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read Next: PlanetF1.com’s F1 2026 most improved drivers (so far)
Originally published by Planet F1 —
Read Original Article