F1 analyst slams Max Verstappen’s “pretty demotivating” claim about Red Bull

The reigning world champion Max Verstappen's comment in Budapest, of not winning any more Grand Prix in 2025, has not sat well with F1 analyst Bernie Collins. She believed that this could act as a 'demotivating' factor for the Red Bull F1 team.

The 2025 season is 14 rounds down, and Max Verstappen is in third place in the drivers' standings, having amassed 187 points and only two Grand Prix wins. His last triumph came in Round 7, at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

It has been a struggle to extract performance from the lackluster RB21 for Verstappen, and on several occasions, he has shown his frustration with it. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished P9, he was asked whether he could win a third Grand Prix in 2025. Verstappen replied, via Sky Sports F1:

"No, not the way things are going right now. That's just the way it is. It's clear. There's nothing I can do about it. I could get angry, but that won't make the car any faster."

Seeing Verstappen's stance on the upcoming 10 Grand Prix, F1 analyst Bernie Collins said:

"I don't think any driver says: 'we're not going to win anything this year' as a motivator to the team, that's pretty demotivating. If I was an engineer, I think that would really hit you a little bit."

Next up on the race calendar is Round 15, the Dutch Grand Prix, which will kick off from August 29 onwards at the Zandvoort Racing circuit.

Max Verstappen 'struggled a lot' during Hungarian GP

While Bernie Collins has slammed Max Verstappen for his Budapest comments around the RB21, the latter also admitted that he was 'struggling' throughout the Hungarian GP race weekend.

Firstly, during the high-intensity qualifying session, Verstappen could only secure a P8 starting position. Moreover, after the main Grand Prix, he ended up with a disappointing P9 finish.

In line with how the overall race weekend at the Hungaroring racing circuit panned out for him, Verstappen said, via F1's official website:

"Like my whole weekend, there was just no grip and I was just struggling a lot. Not how we want to be, but I knew it was going to be a tough day."

Max Verstappen has won four consecutive drivers' world championships since 2021. However, the way the 2025 season has panned out so far, it seems highly unlikely that he'd be able to amass a fifth this year.

The papaya duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are having their two-way battle for the title, having amassed 275 and 284 points respectively.