Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has insisted Max Verstappen‘s marginal Formula 1 title loss won’t lead the team to scrutinise its missed opportunities more than usual.
Having closed out the latest campaign with three successive victories, Verstappen came close to completing the most remarkable championship turnaround in 2025.
However, with third place in the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Lando Norris did what was required to dethrone the Dutchman and be crowned F1’s new World Champion.
But Verstappen wasn’t downcast despite coming up two points short, having trailed 104 points behind Norris’ McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri with nine races to go.
Verstappen snapped back at a reporter post-race when probed on whether he now harbours more regrets about his avoidable run-in with George Russell in Barcelona.
“Did you forget all the other stuff that happened in my season?” he retorted. “The only thing you mentioned is Barcelona, I knew that would come.
“Are you giving me a stupid grin now?” he then enquired. “I don’t know. Yeah, it’s part of racing at the end. You know, you live and learn.
“The championship is one over 24 rounds. I’ve also had a lot of Christmas presents, early Christmas presents given to me in the second half. So you can also question that.”
Red Bull hails remarkable 2025 turnaround
Likewise, Mekies reckons it would be wrong to get caught up thinking too much about the occasions where Verstappen could have captured those elusive two points.
“I don’t think we should now go into making the list of the circumstances on where we could have found these two points,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“We will probably do it internally in a way we will learn from the mistakes we make, but we don’t need to wait for the end of the championship to do that.
“We anyway always do it. But the two points could be everywhere.”
Instead, the Frenchman, who succeeded Christian Horner mid-season, has expressed that a greater emphasis should be placed on the comeback the team managed.
“What is important is that we as a group turned around things in the way that has been done,” he continued.
“All the credit should go to our people in Milton Keynes for having believed in this year’s project, and having been proven right, I guess.”
READ MORE – Why Max Verstappen is happier now than 12 months ago despite relinquishing grip on F1 title
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