Max in Melbourne: 'In Formula 1, things can change quickly'
Published on 13 March 2025 by Stefan Meens
Ahead of the first Formula 1 weekend of the 2025 World Championship, Max Verstappen addressed the media at the Albert Park paddock on the Thursday of the Australian Grand Prix. Topics discussed included the the RB21, the new rookies and what it takes to prepare for another title fight.
Are Oracle Red Bull Racing in good shape for the 2025 season? “It’s positive. I guess we'll find out more this weekend and after it. We’ll try to do our best and we already found a few areas that we can work on after the pre-seasons test.”
Does that mean the RB21 is an improvement on last year’s challenger? “Naturally, there is an improvement, but I think I have said it before: there are still things that we want to improve on and do better now. This is of course also a different track to Bahrain so it will feel a bit different to drive the car here.”
In terms of the 2025 season, it looks like it will be a close fight. “It’s impossible to know at the moment. I mean, I know that we are not the quickest at the moment, but it’s a very long season. If you would have asked that question here last year and then at the end of the season again, you know it looked completely different. So a lot of things can always change quite quickly in F1.”
After winning four titles in a row, what does it take to prepare for another successful championship fight? “There's a lot of things that this question makes me think about that I actually don't think about. For me it’s more relaxing to just go into it, trust the people around you, and go from there. Work hard on and off track, try to address things that you don't like in a car or whatever, and always try to do the best on track yourself. We try to minimize mistakes and keep scoring points.”
The 2025 grid features a lot of rookies. Like Max, they start their careers at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. “It’s great to see so many rookies and young drivers step up to Formula 1 and hopefully they can stay for a while. It’s exciting, unpredictable, which is great for the sport and for me. It’s also great to see so many Red Bull racers progress into the sport. It’ll be great to see how they do this year and the following years.”
If you had to give yourself advice back in 2015, what would you have said with the benefit of hindsight? “Nothing to be honest. It's important to make your mistakes and of course feel that excitement at the time. If I had told him at the time what he would achieve in the sport then it's pretty boring to know what's ahead, right? You need to have that uncertainty. You need to feel the pressure of having to perform at the time, trying to work your way into a top team. So in short, I wouldn’t advice anything.”
Contest GP Australia: win a by Max Verstappen signed Red Bull Racing 2025 cap!
