22/08/2025 08:20
Max Verstappen has delivered a clear message to Red Bull: it must
"try" to replicate McLaren's "incredible" medium-speed performance.
The reigning world champion appears set to suffer the first failed
title defence of his F1 career, having fallen 97 points behind
Oscar Piastri. With 10 rounds remaining, Verstappen requires a
miracle to secure a fifth consecutive F1 Drivers' Championship.
His deficit is not due to his own performance, but rather the
struggles of Red Bull's RB21, which has proven to be a difficult
car. McLaren, by contrast, has flourished. The MCL39 has emerged as
one of the most dominant cars in F1 history. The Woking-based
outfit has won 11 of the 14 completed Grands Prix and could surpass
1,000 points this season. A key strength of the British team has
been its medium-speed cornering performance, along with superior
tyre management in both dry and wet conditions. According to
Verstappen, McLaren's tyre management is even more impressive in
the wet, and the way the car rotates is unmatched on the current
grid. "[The McLaren] is definitely better on its tyres, to keep the
tyres alive a lot nicer," Verstappen told RacingNews365 in
Hungary. "You can clearly see that in the wet on the
intermediates, where if you have good tyre management, [tyre
preservation] even comes out more on that tyre, because the tyre is
more fragile. "It overheats even faster, and they definitely have
that very well under control. At the same time, I think their
medium speed performance is incredible compared to, I would say,
everyone else on the grid. "The rotation that they have on the
front axle without losing the rear is something that, yeah, it's
also quite incredible to see, and that's something that we have to
try and achieve."
