Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has revealed that Max Verstappen temporarily “lost a bit of interest” in Formula 1 during a period this season when the team could not provide a competitive car. Although Verstappen is hunting a fifth consecutive drivers’ crown, doubts had crept in earlier as Red Bull fell behind the pace of McLaren’s MCL39, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris dominating much of the year.
A crucial floor update for the RB21 at the Italian Grand Prix turned things around, bringing Verstappen back into title contention. Marko explained that recent internal changes, particularly under new team principal Laurent Mekies, improved teamwork on the engineering side and emphasized listening to driver feedback. “We developed the car… and in the end, then it’s Max who delivers—you can rely on that.”
With both McLaren drivers failing to finish the US Grand Prix sprint, Verstappen has clawed his way back to just 55 points behind Piastri. Marko confessed, “Max, at one stage, when we were not competitive, I would say he lost a little bit of interest. He was more interested in GT racing. So, to keep him in a good mood, I was talking about Nurburgring and things like that.” Verstappen participated and won on debut in GT3 racing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife during this lull.
Now, renewed competitiveness and recent race successes have re-motivated Verstappen, according to Marko: “But now that the car is working, and his success at the Nurburgring… he’s really motivated. You don’t hear him shouting; he’s smiling. So that’s what you need.”
Verstappen’s resurgence, highlighted by two wins and a second place in the last three Grands Prix, has revived his championship ambitions and the mood inside Red Bull.
