Max Verstappen shares whether he could win races if he drove for Racing Bulls instead of Red Bull

Follow us on Google Discover

Max Verstappen enters the Italian Grand Prix third in the world championship as the nearest challenger to the two dominant McLaren cars. And yet, some in the paddock think he’d be faring better if he drove for Racing Bulls.

Aside from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, Verstappen is the only driver to win multiple Grands Prix this season. He’s also equalled Norris’ pole-position haul (four) and scored six podiums.

However, Fernando Alonso thinks Verstappen would win the title in the Racing Bulls car. Alonso has repeatedly raved about the talents of his fellow world champion.

Racing Bulls are currently seventh in the world championship, though Isack Hadjar gave them their first podium since 2021 at the Dutch GP. With Hadjar (37 points) and Liam Lawson (20) both outperforming Yuki Tsunoda (12), there’s a growing consensus that the VCARB02 is an easier car to drive than the RB21.

Max Verstappen says he couldn’t beat McLaren in the Racing Bulls car

At the beginning of the season, Verstappen himself predicted that Lawson would be faster for Racing Bulls. The theory is that only the Dutchman is capable of making this year’s Red Bull look like a front-runner.

During media day at Monza, though, Verstappen dismissed talk that he could win races if he jumped into the sister team. He didn’t cast any verdict on which car was better, though.

“No, not really, no,” he said, via Motorsport.com, when asked if he was interested in trying Hadjar’s car. “I just have to focus on my own car and see how we can improve it.

“I wouldn’t be able to win races with that. It wouldn’t be enough to beat McLaren. So it’s not something I’m thinking about, no.”

Red Bull don’t want to put Verstappen in the Racing Bulls car because they believe it would cause too much of a stir in the paddock. They have been at pains to stress that the two teams are separate entities, but this would blur those boundaries.

Christian Horner already hinted at Red Bull’s 2026 driver decision before he left

One of the biggest talking points in F1 right now is whether Hadjar will replace Tsunoda as Verstappen’s teammate, which would be a reward for his superb rookie season.

In an ideal world, Red Bull would like to retain Tsunoda, having already axed Sergio Perez and Lawson since last December. But he hasn’t done enough on track yet to justify that decision.

Just before he was removed as team principal, Christian Horner indicated that Red Bull would sign Hadjar, barring a turnaround. It remains to be seen whether these plans have now changed.

Laurent Mekies has worked with both drivers who are in the frame. That puts him in the best position to make a decision, but it will also make it more difficult if he has to let Tsunoda go.