16/10/2025 08:20
Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert has pinpointed Red Bull's
turnaround in form on listening to the feedback from Max
Verstappen. The Milton Keynes-based squad has enjoyed a strong
uptick in pace of late, winning two of the last three grands prix.
Verstappen's form has brought him into conversations as an outside
bet for the title, which so far this year, has been between the two
McLaren drivers. The four-time champion sits 66 points down on
championship leader Oscar Piastri ahead of this weekend's United
States Grand Prix. Having suffered in the mid-part of the campaign
with a series of lacklustre results, Red Bull's resurgence has been
praised by Herbert. "A lot of that is because Red Bull are
listening more to what Max is saying," he told BettingLounge .
"Whatever was going on before with the simulator drivers doing
their simulation back in the factory in Milton Keynes wasn't
working out for Max. So there has definitely been a change. "They
are applying more of what Max is saying. That does seem to be
putting them in a good place." A major change that occurred within
the Red Bull team this year saw the exit of team principal
Christian Horner, who was subsequently replaced by Laurent Mekies.
Herbert labelled the shift as a positive decision for the team.
"You can't ignore the change in leadership either with Laurent
Mekies replacing Christian Horner," he said. "He really seems to
have created a nice harmony within the team. "The relationship
between him and Max is much closer than it was between Max and
Horner who has that running battle with Jos [Verstappen] which
created so much negative energy. "The whole situation has changed,
and it's been a very positive thing as we've seen in last couple of
races. "It's not 100 % certain that they're going to be
competitive at every single race, but recent performances have
shown that that car is going to be a major threat and it's going to
be taking points away from those two McLarens and that's only going
to add more pressure to McLarens and to the drivers at the same
time. "They had the dominant most competitive car but that twist in
Red Bull's fortunes has now started to come into play and
unfortunately for Lando and Oscar and McLaren, the twist has come
to the fastest driver on the grid. "You know he's going to be a
real threat whatever race they go to. It's probably the worst
scenario for McLaren to have."
