Fernando Alonso applies pressure on Red Bull with Max Verstappen verdict

Fernando Alonso has suggested that Max Verstappen is driving better than he ever has, but is hamstrung by his car.

Verstappen is twice a race winner in F1 2025, and has scored all but seven of Red Bull’s championship points, carrying the team to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Fernando Alonso offers ‘best season’ opinion on Max Verstappen

Verstappen has been Red Bull’s shining light since his meteoric arrival into F1 as a teenager, which saw him quickly promoted into the squad’s senior team.

He’s since gone on to deliver four world championships in a row, his first coming after an intense title battle with Lewis Hamilton that went to the wire in 2021.

Having dominated the F1 2023 campaign, winning 19 of 22 races, his and Red Bull’s vice-like grip on the competition slipped last year.

Even still, he recorded his fourth world crown as he battled a rear-guard action against an increasingly competitive McLaren and Lando Norris in the latter half of the season.

That saw McLaren seize the Constructors’ Championship as the Red Bull RB20 became increasingly difficult to drive, with Sergio Perez slipping backwards as the year wore on.

Dismissed as the Mexican failing to deliver at the time, the fate of his replacements has suggested a more fundamental issue, one Verstappen’s talent had masked.

It’s that point that Alonso suggests marks the Dutchman’s current campaign out – that he’s scored 165 points to Yuki Tsunoda’s seven.

“I don’t think much has changed this season compared to other seasons,” Alonso told DAZN when asked about Verstappen’s 2025 efforts. “I think Verstappen has had his best season to date every year.

“In 2021, he stole the championship away from Lewis Hamilton and then he dominated for several years in a row. He didn’t have the most dominant car last year and won the championship with several races to go.

“This year, he may not even have a car that’s one of the best two or three, but he’s still fighting along. He always performs at the top level. It’s another task for Red Bull to give him a car to fight for the championship. But there is no doubt about him.”

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Verstappen’s consistent form has seen pressure mount on Red Bull as it works to deliver a car suitable both for his talents and for Tsunoda to become a more consistent feature at the front of races.

The squad has undergone significant change in recent times, highlighted by last week’s sacking of team boss Christian Horner.

However, the 51-year-old is not the only departure, with a string of other senior figures having also exited the squad in recent times. That includes design gurus Adrian Newey and Rob Marshall, while sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who coveted Horner’s team principal role, now leads Sauber.

In addition to the changing faces behind the scenes, Red Bull is also developing its own power unit for the forthcoming F1 2026 regulation change.

That will see it go toe-to-toe with the likes of established players Ferrari, Mercedes, and current power unit supplier Honda.

When combined with the squad’s slipping on-track performance, it highlights the scale of the challenge that lies ahead of new team boss, Laurent Mekies.

It also goes some way to explain why Verstappen may be tempted away, with rumours continuing to link him with Mercedes.

Verstappen remains under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, though a performance-related contract clause is understood to exist such that, should he find himself lower than fourth in the drivers’ championship following the Hungarian Grand Prix, he would be free to leave the organisation.

Read more: The winners and losers after Red Bull’s sacking of Christian Horner