Max Verstappen's one-word verdict about his Red Bull during the F1 British GP FP1

Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen’s struggles with the Red Bull RB21 continued into the first practice session at the 2025 British Grand Prix. The Dutchman was not satisfied with how the car behaved in the final moments of the lap and shared a one-word verdict about the same.

Red Bull was jumped by McLaren in the performance index coming into the 2025 season, with the RB21 being around 3-4 tenths slower than the Papaya team (depending on the track layout). Yet, Verstappen was able to push the RB21 beyond its limits and managed to win a few races.

However, the Red Bull driver’s last win came at the Emilia Romagna GP, with three of the last four race weekends being a struggle for him. He has lacked the outright pace and struggled with different aspects of the car, with the most prominent one being the balance.

The first practice session at the British GP was again a struggle fest for Max Verstappen, as he didn't have the pace on the low fuel runs and struggled with the balance on race simulations. Towards the end of the practice session, as Verstappen went out on medium tires and heavy fuel, he struggled with the balance of the RB21.

The Dutchman failed to make the corners as the Red Bull was understeering and washing out in the corners, which led to the frustration building up in the cockpit. He then came out with a one-word verdict on the team radio about how the car felt as he said:

“Unbelievable”

Max Verstappen ended the session in P10, over half a second slower than the leader. Home hero Lewis Hamilton topped the session with a lap time of 1:26.892, with both the McLaren driver and his teammate Charles Leclerc 2 tenths of their lap time.

The VCARBs of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson also finished ahead of Verstappen in P6 and P8, respectively.

“No decision at the moment”: Max Verstappen responds to the rumors of a Mercedes move

Max Verstappen has been in conversation with Toto Wolff over the possibility of making a switch to Mercedes for the upcoming F1 season. Neither of the Mercedes drivers has a contract for the next season yet. Ahead of the British GP, Verstappen was asked by Sportskeeda about his future. He replied:

“There is no decision at the moment. you know, so for me it's not about ’26 or whatever. I just focus on what I have ahead of me, work with the team. Then of course a lot of people make up assumptions. But, you know, that's not me.”

George Russell came out during the Austrian GP weekend and claimed that he was aware of Toto Wolff's conversation with Verstappen, but suggested it was normal for his Boss to engage in such talks with a Top driver.