Max Verstappen foresees “slight rebuilding” phase for Red Bull amid disappointing season

Max Verstappen has admitted that the Red Bull team is undergoing a rebuilding phase amid its torrid 2025 season so far. The 27-year-old, who recently spoke in an interview, detailed how the team has suffered a dip in its trajectory from a title-winning team to its current state.

The Dutch driver, who was largely rumored to be considering an exit from the Red Bull Racing outfit, also detailed how the team is gradually understanding its problems and expressed optimism about it being solved soon. Speaking via the F1 official website, Verstappen stated:

"The team has gone from of course, winning championships before I arrived, to when I arrived, a bit through a rebuilding phase, and then we really hit the peak again of winning championships," he says.

"Now I feel like [it's] slight rebuilding. We're still of course, a very strong team, but I do think that to make again a step up, there's slight rebuilding or restructuring maybe, and understanding a little bit more what's going on, and that of course takes a little bit of time, but hopefully not too much time."

The 2025 campaign has largely proven to be a challenging season for Max Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing team. On the administrative front, the Milton Keynes-based outfit parted ways with long-serving team principal Christian Horner following the British Grand Prix.

On track, the four-time world champion has largely trailed the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the drivers’ championship. Verstappen also endured one of his most forgettable races in recent years with Red Bull, last time out in Hungary, a Grand Prix he could only muster a ninth-place finish behind Racing Bull’s driver Liam Lawson.

Max Verstappen speaks on focusing on 2026

Max Verstappen also weighed in on the upcoming 2026 campaign. The Red Bull driver detailed how he is very focused on the season.

Verstappen, who during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend confirmed he would race for the Austrian outfit for 2026, detailed how the team has its focus on nailing the new regulations. The Dutch driver also hinted at why he opted to be largely quiet amid the rumor that heralded his future at the team.

"Well, the thing is that there's always other people speaking a lot, while I'm not really talking, because first of all I don't need to, I don't need to say anything.”

"I think that's also better for everyone, instead of just waffling things around. It makes no sense anyway, it's a bit of a waste of time, but for me I'm very focused on '26 with the team, to look ahead and make sure that we nail the regulations, and that we are competitive from the start."

The 2026 season is set to usher in a new set of regulations for Formula 1. The campaign will witness changes to the car's aerodynamics as well as several key mechanical components. Like several other teams, Red Bull and Max Verstappen will be looking to get things right just as they did at the commencement of the ground effect era in 2022.