Max Verstappen in Hungary: “People said – he should just shut up”

Red Bull Racing is slowly but surely finding its stride: Max Verstappen finished second at Red Bull’s home race in Austria, just behind George Russell, and secured a fine third place at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. In England, Max was also on course for a podium finish before he spun off the track due to a rear wing failure.

At the Hungaroring, the 28-year-old Dutchman stormed away from pole position in 2019, and in 2022 and 2023 he won the race on the outskirts of Budapest.

Max in the Hungaroring paddock: “We’re generally getting to understand the car better and better. Of course, the odd little problem crops up now and then, but overall we’re on an upward trend, and that’s definitely a positive.”

“On the other hand, our competitiveness depends in part on what other teams are doing. If a particular team makes improvements, that can quickly add a few tenths of a second to the stopwatch, and the balance of power shifts again.”

In Belgium, Max Verstappen said he had to be careful what he said, otherwise he’d come under fire again. Is someone trying to put pressure on the world champion? Verstappen shakes his head: “No, that was a joke, of course. But there’s obviously a serious side to the whole thing. I just say what I think, and when I did that in the first part of the World Championship, people were soon saying – oh, he’s always just moaning, and only because his car isn’t fast enough; he should just shut up.”

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“But I can sense that more and more people are coming round to my way of thinking, and slowly but surely people are realising that I didn’t speak out because I’m no longer winning, but because Formula 1 as a product is really important to me.”

“Of course, one or two spectators might say after a 2026 Grand Prix: ‘But that was a good race, wasn’t it?’ They’re quite right, if you only look at the overtaking manoeuvres, but many of these manoeuvres aren’t natural; they’ve nothing to do with what a racing driver is really capable of.”

“And the complex energy management means that at times – take Spa, for example – we’re driving around with an engine output that simply isn’t worthy of Formula 1. When these new rules were being discussed years ago, I warned precisely against such situations.”

“Ultimately, driving this season feels unnatural, and perhaps people are getting a bit fed up with me talking about it. That’s what I meant too when I said in Belgium that I had to be careful. It’s no fun driving these cars, and it’s no fun talking about it over and over again either. But people are asking, and I think they deserve an honest answer.”