{"id":5809,"date":"2025-07-19T12:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T12:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/5809\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T12:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T12:08:09","slug":"helmut-marko-fires-red-bull-disaster-warning-for-belgian-grand-prix-that-would-end-max-verstappens-2025-f1-title-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/5809\/","title":{"rendered":"Helmut Marko fires Red Bull \u2018disaster\u2019 warning for Belgian Grand Prix that would end Max Verstappen\u2019s 2025 F1 title bid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Red Bull will start their life without Christian Horner at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, but Helmut Marko fears a \u2018disaster\u2019 at Spa that may be ruinous for Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n

The Milton Keynes natives took drastic action at the start of the three-week break between the British Grand Prix and Belgian GP<\/a>, as Red Bull sacked Horner without telling him why<\/a> he was being removed from his operational role as their CEO and team principal after 20 years.<\/p>\n

Now, Spa will see Laurent Mekies take in his first race as the new CEO and team principal of Red Bull after stepping up from sister team Racing Bulls. Mekies\u2019 new team will also head to Belgium with upgrades they hope can help Verstappen<\/a> retain the F1 drivers\u2019 championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hasselt, Belgium-born Dutchman Verstappen will arrive for his second home race facing 69 and 61-point deficits to McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri<\/a> and Lando Norris<\/a> in the standings. He is also only 18 points clear of Mercedes star George Russell, which may soon prove crucial.<\/p>\n

\"RedPhoto by Jon Hobley | MI News\/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesHelmut Marko states Max Verstappen cannot afford a \u2018disaster\u2019 practice with Red Bull\u2019s Belgian GP upgrades<\/p>\n

Verstappen\u2019s \u00a347m-a-year Red Bull contract<\/a> until 2028 includes a release clause that could let him leave at the end of 2025 if the 27-year-old sits outside of the top three in the drivers\u2019 standings after the Hungarian Grand Prix<\/a>, which comes a week after next week\u2019s Belgian GP.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen\u2019s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend<\/a><\/p>\n

Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 234 2 226 3 165 4 147 <\/p>\n

The focus for now for Red Bull motorsport adviser Marko<\/a>, however, is the Belgian GP and to put Verstappen in a position to stay in the title fight. Red Bull will introduce updates at Spa and also at the Hungaroring, but are not alone as Mercedes will debut upgrades in Belgium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He told OE24<\/a>: \u201cThere are still 332 points up for grabs, which is a decent package. We hope the updates we\u2019re bringing to Spa and Budapest will have an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

A hurdle could potentially await at Spa, though, as the 2025 Belgian GP will also feature an F1 Sprint<\/a>. So, Marko is aware that Verstappen cannot afford to start on the wrong foot with a bad set-up after a \u2018disaster\u2019 in the one practice session Red Bull get to dial the updates in.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes and no,\u201d Marko added on whether the Sprint can be helpful \u201cOn the one hand, there are more points up for grabs. But on the other hand, two practice sessions are cancelled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t afford a disaster Friday practice and then get the car into the right tyre window. Everything has to be right, right from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if the updates that Red Bull debut at the Belgian GP do not allow Verstappen to beat the McLaren pair of Piastri and Norris, then Marko will reluctantly throw in their towel once and for all on the Dutchman being a five-time world champion by the end of the 2025 F1 season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s to be expected,\u201d Marko concluded.<\/p>\n

Friday 25th July to Sunday 27th July
\n Friday 25th July 11:30 1st Practice Friday 25th July 14:30 1st Sprint Qualifying Friday 25th July 14:49 2nd Sprint Qualifying Friday 25th July 15:06 3rd Sprint Qualifying Saturday 26th July 10:00 Sprint Saturday 26th July 14:00 1st Qualifying Saturday 26th July 14:25 2nd Qualifying Saturday 26th July 14:48 3rd Qualifying Sunday 27th July 13:00 Race Only Lewis Hamilton has more Belgian GP wins than Max Verstappen among the 2025 F1 grid<\/p>\n

Previously, Marko suggested that Verstappen\u2019s 2025 F1 title hopes are \u2018over\u2019<\/a> after he fell 69 and 61 points shy of the McLaren pair of Piastri and Norris at the British GP. Yet the updates that Red Bull will field at the Belgian GP have seemingly given the Austrian fresh confidence.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: The most successful F1 drivers at the Belgian GP of all time and at Spa<\/a><\/p>\n

But Marko is well aware that Verstappen cannot afford to lose any further ground in the title fight, especially to Piastri, at Spa next week. The Australian would boast three full Grand Prix wins in hand over the Dutchman if he can outscore the Red Bull ace by six points in Belgium.<\/p>\n

At least Spa is a circuit that Verstappen really enjoys, so could yield his third win of the 2025 F1 season if Red Bull get his set-up right. Only Lewis Hamilton with five wins has conquered the Ardennes circuit more often than Verstappen with three wins among this season\u2019s grid.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Bull will start their life without Christian Horner at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, but Helmut Marko…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,7696,7697,4405,825,806,805,803,804,946,85],"class_list":["post-5809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-belgian-grand-prix","tag-f1-sprint","tag-helmut-marko","tag-max-verstappen","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-red-bull-racing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}