Helmut Marko finally waves the white flag on Max Verstappen's title campaign after a disastrous F1 Hungarian GP

After 14 rounds of racing and Max Verstappen's initial acceptance of possibly not winning his fifth drivers' title this year, the Hungarian GP brought Helmut Marko on the same page as the Dutchman. The 82-year-old admitted that winning a record-equalling fifth consecutive drivers' title for Verstappen was "impossible" this year.

After the most dominant season in F1 by any driver in 2023, Red Bull and Verstappen aimed to continue this momentum into the 2024 season. However, mid-way through the season, their car seemingly hit a development ceiling as rivals caught the Austrian giant at the top of the pecking order. McLaren became the team to beat as Red Bull dwindled towards the midfield.

Subsequently, this trend has continued into the 2025 season. Max Verstappen tried to fight the papaya duo by winning two races in the first seven rounds. However, since then, the 27-year-old scored a sole podium in Canada, where the McLaren pair was on the back foot.

Red Bull's torrid run further led Verstappen to go four race weekends without a top-three finish for the first time in over seven years.

The gap between Verstappen and the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, has ballooned up to 97 points, leading Helmut Marko to finally retract his earlier statement. He admitted that Verstappen winning the drivers' championship this year was out of bounds, via PlanetF1:

"It’s impossible, clearly."

Max Verstappen finished ninth at the Hungarian GP, over a minute behind the leading McLaren drivers.

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Max Verstappen lost for words after a torrid Hungarian GP

Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix Of Hungary - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen started the Hungarian GP down in eighth. He was outqualified by the Aston Martin duo and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto for the first time this season.

Red Bull then tried to undercut the front-runners by pitting the Dutchman earlier than his rivals, but it backfired with Verstappen being stuck in traffic for much of his second stint. The pitwall thought about the possibility of leaving the reigning champion out till the checkered flag, but the undercut prevented this from happening due to the projected wear and tear figures.

This limited the 27-year-old to a subpar P9 finish. A baffled Verstappen then shared how nothing worked for him around the Hungaroring in contrast to the previous race weekend, as he said, via Crash:

"It’s very complicated to explain. This weekend nothing worked. In Spa, we had a much more competitive weekend. I know we aren’t on the level of McLaren, who are doing a great job this year.

"But this is weird for us. It’s something to investigate."

On the other hand, Max Verstappen also conceded ground to George Russell in the standings. The Mercedes driver finished on the podium and gained 13 points over the Dutchman, who now has a 15-point lead for third place in the standings.