12/08/2025 14:45
Former F1 driver Martin Brundle has hailed some of Max Verstappen's
qualifying performances this season, but warned Red Bull the
Dutchman cannot "carry" the team forever. Verstappen has achieved
the same number of pole positions as both Oscar Piastri and Lando
Norris this season (four), despite an inferior car compared to
McLaren's MCL39. The four-time world champion started from pole in
Japan, Saudi Arabia, Miami and Silverstone, although only converted
the first in Suzuka into a win – he also won in Imola. To take the
fight to McLaren in qualifying, Red Bull has fitted Verstappen with
an incredibly low downforce set-up in recent grands prix, hurting
him in mixed weather. In Silverstone, wet weather ruined the
reigning world champion's race, as a very thin rear wing was fitted
for qualifying in the hope of no rain in the grand prix. Red Bull
learnt from its lesson in Spa-Francorchamps, where it opted for a
safer rear wing in qualifying due to a wet race being expected.
However, a thin rear wing was used in the sprint shootout, where
Verstappen secured a front row start. Verstappen has been forced to
go to extreme lengths due to the RB21's persistent problems, in
hope of a good qualifying and big points. On the whole, the
27-year-old has achieved consistent results, although has slipped
to 97 points behind Piastri. Brundle has been hugely impressed by
Verstappen, but knows he cannot keep carrying Red Bull this year.
"Yeah, he's put some laps in, I think I described one of his pole
positions as laser-guided," Brundle told Sky F1 . "It was just a
beautiful way he was controlling the steering. The car's moving
around, Max can handle that. He just changed his driving style a
little bit and carries the speed. "Super brave in Spa, for
example, with the skinny [rear wing] downforce, taking some of
those really critical corners flat out. "And he can do it. But,
you know, you can't pick a car up and carry it for a whole season."
