Helmut Marko privately admits Red Bull ‘don’t know’ how to solve one issue affecting Max Verstappen

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Max Verstappen will go into the penultimate round of the season at the Qatar Grand Prix within a win of moving atop the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship for the first time.

The four-time defending champion has yet to lead the standings after any round of the 2025 F1 season. Lando Norris of McLaren dethroned Verstappen from the top of the standings for the first time in 1,029 days after he won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.

Prior to Verstappen winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix in round 22/24 as McLaren teammates Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified, the Red Bull ace had also not been within a Grand Prix win of first place in the drivers’ standings since May’s Monaco Grand Prix in round eight.

Verstappen even fell to a 104-point deficit to Piastri atop the F1 drivers’ standings following the Dutch Grand Prix in round 15. But the 28-year-old outscored Piastri in each of the seven rounds since visiting Zandvoort and he even outscored Norris in five of those seven, as well.

Helmut Marko privately admits Red Bull do not understand Max Verstappen’s fluctuating form

But Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko has privately told Mike Hezemans that they do not “really” understand why Verstappen’s form has started to fluctuate so much of late. Prior to visiting Las Vegas, Verstappen could not rival Norris as he won in Mexico and Brazil.

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Verstappen used Red Bull’s floor update to win the Italian Grand Prix and revive his title bid. He also won in Azerbaijan and the USA, plus the Sprint at COTA. But Norris won the Mexico City Grand Prix with a 31.049s lead over Verstappen in P3, and he did the Sao Paulo double.

Hezemans told RacingNews365: “I think Qatar will be a good track for Verstappen. But, then again, I thought the same about Brazil and Mexico. It’s so strange at the moment, it’s often hit or miss.

“We discussed this with Helmut Marko, how that’s possible. The answer was essentially that they don’t really know themselves, either. Everything is so closely linked these days.

“If you don’t quite get it right on Friday, and the car isn’t quite set-up right, you see how difficult it is to get it right again in the end. And then, of course, you also have the Sprint race, so the car has to be right from the start.”

Max Verstappen needs Red Bull to get his Qatar Grand Prix set-up perfect straight away

Verstappen paid the price for Red Bull’s set-up mistake in Brazil, as he only qualified P16 for the Sao Paulo GP after they moved his set-up to mirror what Yuki Tsunoda had trialled in the Sprint at Interlagos. So, Verstappen started from the pit lane after changing his set-up again.

The changes worked in Brazil, as Verstappen rose from the pit lane to the podium in P3 with his car arguably the fastest package in the entire field. Had Verstappen used the same set-up for qualifying as he did for the race, then he might have won the Sao Paulo GP, as well.

Now, Verstappen needs Red Bull to start the weekend on the correct foot at the Qatar GP, as this weekend also marks the final F1 Sprint of the 2025 season. Norris can win the 2025 title in Qatar, too, should the Briton outscore Verstappen by just two points across the weekend.