Max Verstappen admits ‘we need to be faster’ as Lando…

Max Verstappen is currently feeling pessimistic about his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix chances as Red Bull lacks pace to McLaren at the 2025 Formula 1 title showdown.

The four-time world champion finished runner-up to McLaren championship leader Lando Norris in both FP1 (+0.008s) and FP2 (+0.363s) on Friday at Yas Marina Circuit.

It comes during the season finale where Norris simply needs a podium finish to claim a maiden title, as he is 12 points ahead of Verstappen and 16 above team-mate Oscar Piastri.

“I was fairly happy with the car, we just need to be probably a little bit faster,” said Verstappen, who has won the last four championships for Red Bull.

“Still not quick enough, but I think overall we've been, for us, in a decent window around here.”

Verstappen added that “there’s a constant fight” with the ride of his car and that “both single lap and long run needs to be better”.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images)

“Seems like it's a decent gap that we need to close,” the Dutchman added. “But from our side, we'll just try to put the best car forward and yeah, let's see how much we can find overnight.”

The struggles were worse in the sister RB21, as it finished 15th in FP1 with Arvid Lindblad behind the wheel before Yuki Tsunoda, in his final weekend for Red Bull, returned for second practice to come 17th.

So Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko agreed with Verstappen, saying neither the long run or one-lap pace was “satisfactory” before adding “we’re losing more time in sector three”.

“The car has a clear tendency to understeer, something Max really doesn’t like,” said Marko. “On the long run we were stronger in the first practice as well - this time, we’re clearly… well, not clearly, but we’re behind Lando.”

Marko did say Verstappen is ahead of Piastri, who skipped FP1 before finishing 11th in second practice, but that doesn’t really help his title chances given Norris is the man to beat.

The reigning champion needs help from elsewhere too, but Marko isn’t confident of Mercedes or Ferrari being “quick enough” to beat Norris considering neither were a threat in Friday practice.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images)

That means there likely needs to be an operational or strategic failure from Norris’ side to hand Verstappen the championship, but Marko reckons “we can't rely three times on mistakes”.

It comes after Verstappen won last weekend’s Qatar GP thanks to an error from McLaren, who failed to pit under a safety car losing a likely 1-3 finish.

The blunder added to many other mistakes in the second half of the year, such as Piastri’s Baku crash or the double Vegas disqualification for excessive plank wear.

That, plus Red Bull upgrades for round 16 at Monza, has helped Verstappen overturn a deficit that previously stood at 104 points having won five of the last eight grands prix.

So, whatever happens this weekend, Marko is still buoyed by the effort Red Bull has shown to salvage something from this season after McLaren dominated the opening 15 weekends.

“I think we’ve made an excellent comeback,” Marko told Sky Sports Germany. “We’ve expanded our working window, and when the timing is right, Max has been able to strike.

“But there are two McLarens and only one car that can run at the front. Overall, though, this chase has motivated the entire team immensely. I think it was also unexpected for the whole Formula 1 world. That makes it even more exciting now.”

Additional reporting by Ronald Vording