Max Verstappen scoffs at Red Bull's talks of a title battle with McLaren after a disappointing F1 Spanish GP qualifying

Following his qualifying performance on Saturday at the 2025 Spanish GP, Max Verstappen snubbed the talks of Red Bull's title battle with McLaren in the ongoing F1 season. Verstappen, who qualified in P3, pointed out the gap between his team and the reigning constructors champions.

The Dutchman finished behind both McLaren drivers after posting 1:11.848 on the timesheet in Q3. This was over three-tenths slower than Oscar Piastri, the pole sitter for Sunday's race. He was also over a tenth slower than Lando Norris.

In addition to this, the Papayas were thoroughly dominant throughout the race weekend (FP sessions) so far. After securing the front row on the grid for the Spanish GP, McLaren look confident to defend their Constructors' Championship. Verstappen, speaking about Red Bull's gap with McLaren, told the media (Via F1 journalist Erik van Haren):

"The gap with McLaren has only grown."

Following this, the defending champions also added in terms of championship expectations:

"I'm not the one saying that. I'm not concerned with the championship."

As things stand, neither Max Verstappen nor Red Bull are the championship favorites this year. In the driver's standings, the four-time world champion trails leader Piastri by 25 points, and Norris by 22 points.

On the other hand, McLaren leads the Constructors' Championship by miles over rivals, especially Red Bull. They are at the top with 319 points after eight races and two Sprints. With this form, the Zak Brown-led team is expected to extend their lead further after the Spanish GP.

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Max Verstappen predicts a "difficult" Sunday at the Spanish GP

Max Verstappen is far from optimistic for the 2025 Spanish GP. Speaking about Sunday's race in the post-qualifying interview, the Red Bull driver stated that targeting a podium "will be difficult."

Max Verstappen on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Spain - Source: Getty

Here's what he said via Sky Sports:

"We were just not fast enough out there: the gap to McLaren is quite big at the moment, which will make things difficult to gain places tomorrow, and we will just need to do our own race. Today, I didn’t expect to be any closer and we did a good job putting it in P3."

"We will try our best tomorrow and see what we can do with the car, and hopefully, we can target a podium. It will be difficult but doesn’t mean we won’t try."

After McLaren drivers and Verstappen, George Russell finished fourth ahead of his former Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in the Spanish GP qualifying.