Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has admitted Max Verstappen‘s title prospects in Formula 1 are “impossible” after a frustrating Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 70-lap race at the Hungaroring last Sunday saw McLaren’s Lando Norris lead the Woking-based squad to its seventh 1-2 finish of the season.
His team-mate and championship leader, Oscar Piastri, slotted in second – a whopping 72 seconds ahead of Verstappen, who could only manage a ninth-placed finish.
Heading into the summer break, the four-time World Champion sits a massive 97 points behind the leading McLaren pair in the Drivers’ standings.
But with 10 rounds still left this season, Marko has signalled that the 27-year-old’s hopes of securing a fifth consecutive World title have all but evaporated.
“It’s impossible, clearly,” he replied when asked about Verstappen’s prospects of challenging for the championship.
Verstappen’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda started the Grand Prix from the pit lane and could only manage a 17th-placed result.
Verstappen himself finished behind former team-mate Liam Lawson, who seems to be settling in well again with sister outfit Racing Bulls.
Marko called the RB21’s pace “inferior” but conceded that the team could have done a better job on the pit wall, too.
“I think one stop would have been better, because overtaking was really difficult,” he continued.
“So maybe sixth or fifth [was possible], but the speed, which was funny, two or three laps, [Verstappen] was doing the same laps like the leaders, 1:19.5s, but we believe we know what went wrong.”
Red Bull nursing tyre degradation woes
Marko dissected Verstappen’s race weekend and concluded that the RB21 has been suffering from major tyre wear issues, further impeding the Dutchman’s progress.
In the past, Red Bull’s 2025 challenger has been judged to be tricky to tame and to have a woefully small operating window.
The Hungarian GP might have solidified this theory, and Marko believes that while the car has inherent pace, as seen by Verstappen’s times during opening laps of both his stints, the degradation cliff is something that kills performance.
“The first stops, the tyres were gone, and the second stop, we thought we could overtake,” he divulged.
“But as we saw for a couple of laps, yes, the speed was there, but then it was over.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri denies late lock-up cost him F1 Hungarian GP win to Lando Norris
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