Red Bull boss shares interesting theory about Max Verstappen's potential disdain with Racing Bulls' car design philosophy

Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache feels Max Verstappen is not going to be happy if the Austrian team follows Racing Bulls' design philosophy. The 2025 F1 season has seen design philosophy become a major topic of debate, as the Dutch driver seems to be the only one who can handle the way the car can go fast.

For anyone to drive a conventional Red Bull, the first thing that they have to understand is the characteristics. The car has a higher peak when it comes to the ultimate potential, but extracting that peak is dependent entirely on the talent that Verstappen possesses.

Ever since Daniel Ricciardo left, the team has been unable to find the right replacement, and every time a new driver joins the squad, he ends up facing the same issues.

This season Red Bull's sister team, Racing Bulls, has built a competent car that seems to be an easier beast to tame. As a result, there have been far too many instances of Max Verstappen's teammate losing out to the drivers in the sister team.

With the situation that currently exists, Red Bull boss Pierre Wache said that Verstappen would not be happy driving a Racing Bull because its ultimate potential is limited. He said (via MotorsportWeek):

"We don’t need a copy of the Racing Bulls. I’m sure Max would not be happy if we offered him such a car. He is our main asset when it comes to results. We don’t want to make the car easier by reducing its overall potential.”

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Red Bull tells Max Verstappen to refrain from rash driving

Going into the F1 Canadian GP, Max Verstappen is on 11 penalty points, and if he ends up getting one more, he would be banned for the F1 Austrian GP. Talking about this in his Speedweek column, Helmut Marko revealed that Red Bull had told the Dutch driver to keep things cleaner during the race weekend. He said:

"Now he mustn’t do anything wrong over the next two race weekends, and of course he will be told not to do anything rash. It would be a disaster if he couldn’t start in Austria."

He added:

“But we don’t expect that to happen, because it’s not really the case that Max does anything wrong in every race. The first penalty points will be cancelled after Austria.”

Verstappen is now 49 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, and the title race seems as good as over for now. A lot would depend on how the F1 Canadian GP evolves and what kind of result he achieves in the car to see what's in store for the rest of the season.

If the driver falls further in the standings, the championship is as good as over at that point. The F1 Canadian GP is hence pivotal in how the rest of the season pans out for Max Verstappen and Red Bull.