Formula 1 News: Red Bull still has car update ‘up their sleeve’

(GMM) Max Verstappen has reignited the Formula 1 world championship fight, slashing Oscar Piastri’s lead to just 40 points after a dominant United States GP weekend that left Red Bull brimming with confidence and McLaren visibly shaken.

Since Zandvoort, Verstappen has clawed back 64 points – four wins and a surge of form that De Telegraaf described as proof “the 2025 Formula 1 season will reach an incredibly spectacular climax.”

“If you’d told me after Zandvoort that I’d be back in contention now, I’d have called you an idiot,” Verstappen smiled.

“We just found a good way with the car. We understood where we wanted it to perform better. Every weekend we try to achieve it – and it’s been way more straightforward the last few races.”

The Dutchman’s win in Austin was again emphatic; his car transformed in the post-Horner era after months of earlier struggle. “For sure, the chance is there,” Verstappen admitted. “We just need to deliver these kinds of weekends until the end.

“We need to be perfect to have a chance – attention to detail will make the difference.”

Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko is openly delighted with the turnaround. “The mood in the team is really high now,” he told ORF. “It’s now clear that McLaren no longer has the same ease. Piastri had a bit of a tough time today too – I hope it stays that way.

“We more or less gave up in the summer. In retrospect, that was a mistake. There are no more circuits coming up that are more favorable for McLaren. I think we’re pretty evenly matched now – and ultimately, it’s Max who makes the difference.”

Verstappen’s speed – and Piastri’s fading composure – have shifted the balance of the title race. “He’s enjoying pushing it to the limit now,” Sky Deutschland’s Timo Glock observed.

“Piastri is unsettled. It reminds me of Jenson Button in 2009 – the pressure constrained him so much that he couldn’t drive freely. The free-forward approach he had earlier in the season isn’t there anymore.”

Marko, meanwhile, admitted Red Bull had set a private points target for the weekend. “We’re still 55 behind,” he said before Sunday’s race. “Internally, I calculated that we needed to make up 15 points here in Austin – and it looks like it could work out.”

Verstappen agreed the championship fight is now wide open. “I think it’s exciting, and I’m really just very excited for the end,” he said. “It’s super close now, and attention to detail will decide it.”

Formula 1 now heads to Mexico, where rain is forecast.

“That means absolute Verstappen time!” grinned Marko, who admits Red Bull still has another significant development to add to the 2025 car.

“We still have something up our sleeve. I don’t know exactly when it will arrive,” said the Austrian.