Max Verstappen has found a “much more positive feeling” towards his Red Bull RB21 car ahead of this weekend’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, according to his father Jos.
The reigning World Champion appeared to suffer an indifferent pre-season testing in Bahrain last month, with the Milton Keynes squad intimating that it was behind McLaren and Ferrari in terms of performance across a race distance.
Verastappen Sr had also conveyed a preliminary warning of a potentially disappointing year, telling Joe Radio that failure to retain the Drivers’ Championship would be down to the team, not his son.
However, he has now promulgated a more positive message on the same station, saying that Verstappen Jr’s mindset has changed to a more glass-half-full one.
“The first day of testing, Max was super happy,” he said, “Then they changed parts again and you name it, then he didn’t like the feeling as much.
“Then they went back to how it was on Wednesday, but he didn’t get back the feeling he had on Wednesday. So that just makes it even harder to see where you stand, it’s just very unclear.
“Let me put it this way… Max was not satisfied. You can call it that, but there is a difference between dissatisfied and not satisfied.
“He is definitely one hundred per cent behind the team and is confident, because he was in England just last week.
“That’s where he is in the simulator and when he came back he had a much more positive feeling, so let’s hope we can continue that.”
Verstappen Sr hints at unpredictable and ‘exciting’ campaign
Red Bull’s senior advisor Helmut Marko had previously said that, despite placing McLaren as considerable favourites for this year, the battle for supremacy this year could be a four-way one with Ferrari and Mercedes also present.
The trajectory is certainly with the Woking outfit, having claimed the Constructors’ title – its first for 26 years – last year, with Red Bull going 10 races without victory at one stage in 2024, ultimately placing them third in the title, as Verstappen laboured to his fourth straight Drivers’ crown, clinching it eventually in Las Vegas with just two races to spare.
Verstappen Sr believes it is hard to predict this season’s eventual outcome, but echoed Marko’s predictions in a positive context, aware that it is what fans would like to see.
“You just don’t know where you stand,” he said, “I hope it will be an exciting season for everyone and that a few teams will be on equal footing, and then it will be exciting.”
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