What Red Bull ‘must’ do in the final six races to keep Max Verstappen beyond 2025

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Red Bull is facing a development race in the final six races of the 2024 season in a bid to defend its titles with Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman referred to the car as a ‘monster’ after finishing sixth during the Italian Grand Prix, while he was heard complaining about balance issues throughout the recent races in Azerbaijan and Singapore.

Title rival Lando Norris beat him by 20 seconds around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, showing just how much work Red Bull must do to catch up to McLaren in the final stretch of the season.

With Christian Horner branding the RB20 the fourth-quickest on the grid, according to Bild, Red Bull has been told what it must do to keep Max Verstappen beyond the 2025 season when the Dutchman could seek a drive elsewhere if things don’t improve.

Red Bull must fix top speed issues on RB20

There has been speculation since the start of the season when the Horner scandal erupted that Verstappen could seek a drive elsewhere such as Mercedes, owing to the unwanted attention and problems it could cause in the future.

Red Bull has already seen several senior members of staff leave, including legendary designer Adrian Newey, and most recently a member of their strategy team left to join McLaren next season.

The effects of these departures are having an impact on Verstappen’s results on the track, having last won a race at the Spanish GP in June. In the last eight races Red Bull has only scored 174 points, which is less than 20 points per race.

According to Bild, the team has largely got on top of their problems with the car balance but must work on extracting more straight-line speed from the RB20.

Christian Horner voices ‘very, very’ big concern over Red Bull win drought

McLaren’s consistency in the last eight races had paid off, with the team now ahead by 40 points in the Constructors’ Championship battle with Red Bull.

Although Horner is adamant that Red Bull can defend their titles, he shared his concerns over the mix of circuits that are upcoming including Austin and Mexico.

READ MORE: Lando Norris fires Max Verstappen F1 title warning amid ‘pay the price’ admission

Austin is more likely to play to the strengths of their chassis, while Mexico could throw up some unwanted issues due to its stop-start nature.

Red Bull is pinning a lot of its hopes of retaining the Constructors’ crown on its Austin upgrade, while Verstappen will be hoping it will make life easier to defend his Drivers’ crown from Norris.