Max Verstappen admits Red Bull doubts as F1 star opens up on 'not pleasant' situation

Max Verstappen has confessed that he doubted whether Red Bull could turn around their predicament before rattling off victories in Monza and Baku. The reigning Formula One world champion is chasing a third successive race win heading into this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

Verstappen and Red Bull struggled during the early stages of the 2025 campaign, and after an eight-race winless streak, the Dutchman travelled to Italy over 100 points behind Oscar Piastri at the top of the standings. However, after winning each of the last two races, that deficit has been trimmed to 69 points. The nature of the victories has been even more encouraging for Verstappen. Earlier in the year, in Japan and Imola, the 27-year-old's magic touch made the difference, but in Monza, Red Bull had the outright pace to keep the McLaren drivers behind.

This speed was on show again in Baku as the Dutchman stormed to pole position by nearly half a second over Williams' Carlos Sainz. Those results have drastically improved the mood within the Red Bull camp and even reignited dreams of a late title charge, but this positive approach hasn't always been the case in Milton Keynes.

"In the end, you always go through certain difficult moments," Verstappen told Autosport. "And of course, sometimes you do think, 'Is this going to be okay, can we still turn things around?' But on the other hand, there's no point to keep thinking like that.

"You always have to look for solutions, talk to people inside the team, and exchange ideas in a positive way. At the end of the day, that is what it's all about, and that's what we have done."

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Looking at the atmosphere within the Red Bull camp, Verstappen continued: "We've experienced a lot of incredible moments together over the past years. So when you go through a tough period, of course, that's not pleasant for anyone inside the team."

He added: "When you see that things are going well again, that makes those wins extra special, especially because of how we got through the bad moments together. The atmosphere is very good now, and that is also important.

"It gives people a bit more confidence, and sometimes that confidence is really important. They see some light at the end of the tunnel again and know that what they're working on is actually okay."