Max Verstappen called out for his ‘harsh’ Red Bull claim in Hungary that can ‘suddenly’ be disproven

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Max Verstappen produced his worst penalty-free finish for 1,463 days in the 2025 F1 Hungarian GP, to also go four races without a podium for the first time in 2,653 days.

Not since the opening rounds of the 2018 F1 season had Verstappen failed to earn a podium across four successive Grands Prix. His sorry streak to launch the 2018 season also followed the Dutchman failing to reach the rostrum during the last two rounds of the 2017 campaign.

Verstappen will now be desperate to avoid extending the Red Bull driver’s current run when the 2025 F1 season resumes after the summer break at the Dutch GP. He will head home to Zandvoort on August 29-31, where he won in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and got second in 2024.

The Dutch GP also saw Verstappen end a two-round run without a podium last year. But the 27-year-old will drive in front of his fans on the back of ending the 2025 Hungarian GP in P9. Verstappen had not finished as low without a penalty since his P9 in the 2021 Hungarian GP.

Max Verstappen called out for claiming it’s ‘clear’ he will not win a race again in 2025

Only after Verstappen’s penalty for driving into George Russell in Spain back in June kicked the four-time champion from P5 to P10 had he finished a Grand Prix lower than P9 between the 2021 and 2025 Hungarian Grands Prix. Verstappen even qualified P8 at the Hungaroring.

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Red Bull’s simulator set-up helped spark Verstappen’s issues in Hungary, which also left their star in a sorry state after qualifying. Having also now gone seven Grands Prix without a win, Verstappen claimed it is ‘clear to me’ that he will not win a race again in the 2025 F1 season.

“No, not the way I look at it now,” Verstappen told De Telegraaf after qualifying P8. “I can’t make more of it. That seems clear to me at the moment.”

But Michael Bleekemolen thinks Verstappen was ‘harsh’ to suggest he will not win another Grand Prix this year. The Red Bull ace also showed with his victories in Japan and Imola this season that Verstappen can ‘suddenly’ put his RB21 on the top step of the podium in 2025.

Bleekemolen told RacingNews365: “I think that’s a bit harsh, because he managed to take a win a few races ago. Of course, they can suddenly pull something out of the hat every now and then. And that’s what we, as chauvinistic Dutch people, hope for.”

Max Verstappen’s fears about winning again in 2025 might have demotivated Red Bull

Bleekemolen’s belief that Verstappen was ‘harsh’ to suggest he will not win again this term may be put to the test if Red Bull cannot improve their RB21. While team principal Laurent Mekies refuted claims about Red Bull’s grip issues in Hungary, Verstappen was never happy.

Verstappen’s concerns ensure the pressure mounts on Pierre Wache to prove himself as Red Bull’s technical director, too. The Dutchman often complained about a lack of overall grip in Hungary, and Yuki Tsunoda shared Verstappen’s view that the RB21 felt numb in the corners.

But after suggesting he won’t win another race this season, Bernie Collins thinks Verstappen may have demotivated Red Bull’s staff. His comment came amid a run of just one Grand Prix podium finish across the past seven races, thanks to his P2 in the Canadian GP back in June.