Verstappen dealt title blow as Red Bull chief issues DAMNING 2025 verdict

One of Red Bull's senior figures has issued a damning verdict on their chances in 2025, dealing a blow to Max Verstappen's title hopes.

The Dutchman heads into the new campaign able to make it five world championships on the bounce after his 2024 triumph. However, it does not sound as though a key figure within Red Bull is confident after how last season panned out.

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Despite starting the year in ominous form, Verstappen suffered a drastic drop-off in performance midway through the year.

At one stage, the 27-year-old went 10 grands prix without a victory, a run which enabled McLaren star Lando Norris to mount a realistic championship challenge.

Verstappen's brilliant triumph at the Brazilian Grand Prix in early November, however, all but guaranteed he would retain his trophy, with his fifth-place finish at the following race in Las Vegas enough to seal the deal.

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He wasn't the only member of the Milton Keynes-based outfit to struggle for much of last year, with team-mate Sergio Perez also well off the pace in the second half of the campaign.

His dire sequence of results was a key factor in Red Bull's failure to retain their constructors' crown, ultimately finishing 2024 behind Ferrari and champions McLaren.

Perez's lackluster displays saw the Mexican removed from his position, with Liam Lawson taking his place on the grid for 2025.

Yet while there is excitement ahead of the new era, the team's technical director Pierre Wache has urged caution.

Speaking to Autosport, the Frenchman admitted there is no guarantee Red Bull will make an immediate return to the top of the order.

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"I think we are happy with what we have done quickly," he said.

“I'm not confident for '25. I'm not confident because I think the others are very quick or are there. It will be a fight for the full year.

"If you have confidence in this business, you are dead. You have to work hard, and everybody has to, in the team, work hard. Everybody's working hard.

“When you see the number of people we have trying to find a very small amount of performance and add and add and add everywhere, it is a very difficult task.

“I have a lack of confidence, because if I have confidence, you go to sleep, you don't go to work, and then you don't find performance.”

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