The Japan Times - Verstappen dismisses Red Bull exit fears

The notion of the four-time world champion walking away from Red Bull was raised by the team's advisor Helmut Marko.

Marko told Sky Germany that he had "great concern" Verstappen could find another team unless Red Bull upped their game.

He was speaking in the aftermath of a disappointing weekend in Bahrain where Verstappen could only finish sixth, three places ahead of his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda, behind a dominant show by McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

Asked specifically to comment on Marko's fears Verstappen replied: "I'm just focusing on driving and don't think about any other scenarios.

"I just keep working, keep trying to improve the car.

"Naturally, Bahrain wasn't a great weekend for us.

"I think we were all pretty disappointed with that.

"We just keep on trying to improve the car, come up with new ideas to try on the car.

"That's how I go about my weeks, trying to improve the situation."

The Dutchman's name has previously been linked with the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin, now that Red Bull's former legendary designer Adrian Newey has joined forces with Fernando Alonso's ambitious team.

But Verstappen wasn't rising to the bait, saying: "A lot of people are talking about it, except me.

"Like I said before, I just want to focus on my car, work with the people in the team.

"That's the only thing that I'm thinking about in Formula One at the moment.

"I am happy, I am not very happy with my car. But we all want to be better, there is no secret in that. We all want to improve,"

"I'm very relaxed."

Verstappen and the team are looking for a change of fortune at Jeddah's high speed street circuit where he has won in 2022 and last year.

"We're still trying things with the car," he said.

- 'Long road' -

"Are there things that we can improve? We're constantly trying to improve the car, I guess.

"And that's what we'll try to do again this weekend.

"How much we can fix it here, I don't know."

Alonso, appearing alongside Verstappen at the press conference, said the rumours linking the F1 star with Aston were "very good for the team".

"This says a lot about the project that we at Aston have and the future that this team has.

"Would I welcome Max as a teammate? Yes, but it's unlikely to happen. Very unlikely!"

Verstappen and Red Bull will be counting on upcoming improvements down the road to their 2025 car to bring it closer in pace to McLaren, who have won three of the four races so far this season to take a healthy lead in the early season team standings.

Verstappen's one bright spot so far in 2025 came in Japan when he produced a superb qualifying performance to take pole and the win in Suzuka.

"It was enough to be competitive (there). It is a very narrow window.

"I just go race by race. I think it will be better than Bahrain. The rest is out of my hands.

"At the moment, we are not the quickest so it is tough to fight for a championship, but it is a long road.

"Last year it all looked great and we know how the season ended up..." he added, referring to how Red Bull hit a mid-season wall before turning things around to clinch his fourth title.

K.Tanaka--JT