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McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has admitted that Max Verstappen and Red Bull have been performing better and seem at 'peace' in recent weeks. The Milton Keynes outfit underwent a significant leadership change in July, with then-Team Principal Christian Horner getting terminated, and Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies replacing him.
During the Horner era this year, Red Bull's performance was downgrading, with the departure of technical mastermind Adrian Newey also hurting the team. Though the team owners didn't attribute Horner's axing to the performance drop, there was a significant amount of negativity surrounding the team since a female employee accused the Briton of inappropriate behavior in early 2024.
A consequent 'power struggle' in the senior management was also exposed, and a simultaneous drop in on-track performance cast doubts over Max Verstappen's future with the team. The Dutchman was linked with a move to Mercedes for 2026, a few weeks before the summer break this year.
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Ahead of the 2025 Mexico GP weekend from October 24 to 26, Zak Brown revealed that he thought Verstappen would end up at Mercedes. However, he was proved wrong after the four-time F1 champion committed to Red Bull for 2026. Moreover, under the new boss, Laurent Mekies, their performance resurrected, and Max Verstappen is back in contention for the 2025 drivers' championship against the McLaren drivers.
"For a long time, I thought he would go to Mercedes, but now there’s no talk about his future anymore," Brown said via de Telegraaf. "He seems better than ever at the moment."
The McLaren boss also shared that he feels 'peace' has returned to Red Bull. Ahead of the Mexico GP, Verstappen admitted he was enjoying the "positive pressure" of hunting Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win his fifth consecutive drivers' championship this year.
Max Verstappen's sudden rise in performance 'surprised' Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri has been leading the 2025 F1 drivers' championship since Round 5 of the season, with teammate Lando Norris closely trailing him throughout. At one point, third-placed Max Verstappen was 104 points behind Piastri.
However, in the last four race weekends, the Red Bull driver has closed the gap to the championship leader by 64 points. He earned 23 points more than Piastri across the United States GP weekend last time out.
On media day in Mexico, Piastri shared that Max Verstappen's rise in consistency and performance has surprised him.
"The run of form that he’s had since Monza has been, I think, a bit of a surprise," the McLaren driver said (via fia.com). "Again, there were flashes of that kind of performance at certain points earlier in the season, but there were also some pretty big dips. So, for him to now be consistent, that has been a bit of a surprise."
"We know they’ve still been throwing a lot of things at their car, trying to improve it, so in some ways, it’s not a huge surprise. But I think for everyone, he’s probably come into the fight quicker than I expected.
Red Bull team advisor revealed after the US GP that the team still has one upgrade package ready to be applied this season, while McLaren has none.
