Max Verstappen shares honest confession about Red Bull's deficit to McLaren after getting the better of the team in Canada

Max Verstappen believed that Red Bull must improve its car’s competitiveness if it were to challenge McLaren. Speaking at the Canadian Grand Prix press conference, the Dutchman admitted that the reigning champions have been difficult to beat throughout the 2025 season.

McLaren dominates the Constructors’ championship, holding a commanding 175-point lead over the rest of the field. While they haven’t won every race like Red Bull did during their peak, the Woking-based outfit has established itself as the team to beat. In contrast, Red Bull has struggled to keep pace, slipping to fourth in the standings with only Verstappen consistently contributing points.

Despite the team’s struggles, Verstappen remains third in the Drivers’ championship. However, he faces a growing challenge from McLaren rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and is under pressure to close the gap.

Assessing Red Bull’s current form, Verstappen stressed the urgency of returning to winning ways. He acknowledged that the team hasn’t been competitive enough and needs to unlock more performance. Praising McLaren for their near-flawless execution, he emphasized the importance of marginal gains in this tightly contested season. While he hoped upcoming upgrades would improve the car, he admitted that their effectiveness remains uncertain.

When asked about where Red Bull needed to improve to counter the McLaren, Max Verstappen said, via RacingNews365:

“We need to start winning races more often. And how do we do that? By being more competitive. Now, this was a good weekend, but again, not competitive enough. We have our moments where, maybe, we can win here or there, but we just need to make the car faster. Then we make it a lot easier for ourselves.”

When asked about the upgrades coming to the car, he replied:

“We're working hard on it with the team. Of course, bits are coming, but is it going to be enough? I don't know. It's the small margins in this world that can give you better results every single weekend. But what I think so far, what McLaren has shown this whole season, is quite extraordinary and difficult to beat. So now, okay, one weekend is not as good, but they are still, by far, the favourites, and that's not going to be something that is easily beaten. But for the coming races, we really want to try and improve our car.”

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Max Verstappen hopes the Red Bull car's performance improves in every area

Max Verstappen believed that Red Bull needed to develop its car across multiple areas further to close the gap to McLaren. The Dutch champion noted that McLaren wasn’t at its usual strength in Canada, which allowed Red Bull to capitalize. However, with more demanding circuits ahead on the calendar, Verstappen emphasized the importance of narrowing the performance deficit to the Woking-based team. While he acknowledged that Canada was a positive weekend for Red Bull, he admitted that it would take significantly more to challenge McLaren consistently throughout the rest of the season.

Explaining areas of improvement for the Red Bull, Verstappen said, via the aformentioned source:

“I hope we can start every weekend like this in terms of how I feel with the car, but we do need more performance to be quick everywhere. McLaren wasn't as strong as normal, and, of course, we benefited a little bit. But going to all the other tracks now coming up, we definitely need more performance to even be close to them. It was a good weekend for us, but we need a lot more to fight with them for the whole season.”

Max Verstappen sits third in the Drivers’ championship with 155 points, 21 behind Lando Norris in second and 43 behind championship leader Oscar Piastri. With Norris retiring from the Canadian GP and Piastri finishing outside the top three, Verstappen managed to close the gap from the previous 39- and 49-point deficits to the McLaren duo.

In the Constructors’ standings, Red Bull trails Ferrari by 21 points and Mercedes by 37, with a significant 212-point gap to championship leaders McLaren. The four-time world champion has contributed nearly all of Red Bull’s tally, scoring 155 out of their total 162 points. With no second driver consistently supporting Verstappen at the front, Red Bull remains heavily reliant on their star driver. As a result, any off-day or mistake from Verstappen has had a considerable impact on their ability to consolidate their position in the Constructors’ championship.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam