Red Bull suggest giving up on the 2025 season: Why that's a very wise decision!

It was two sentences in a long column. Through his ghostwriter, Helmut Marko said: “We will continue to develop [the car] as long as there is still a chance for the title. After that, the focus completely shifts to the project for 2026.”

Looking at the standings in the world championship - where the constructors' title is already lost and Max Verstappen is 49 points behind the current leader, Oscar Piastri - one must conclude that the moment of the switch is therefore close.

After the debacle in Spain last weekend, surely not even the biggest optimist would think that Red Bull can catch up with McLaren this season. Not only do Red Bull, despite all good intentions, still seem to have not found the solution to the balance problems and high tyre degradation, but McLaren are also not standing still.

Another weekend like in Barcelona and Verstappen - who himself never believed in defending his title - will be at such a huge disadvantage that Red Bull will surely pull the plug on the current season. For the Dutch driver, that would - although it may sound strange - be extremely good, with looking at his chances in 2026. Because spending too many employees, hours and resources on an already lost cause could break the team in 2026.

McLaren are currently busy with the car for next year, while teams like Mercedes and Ferrari - who are a bit in no man's land - are also increasingly thinking about 2026. The dumbest thing Red Bull could do is to hope for a turnaround that won't come, thus creating a gap behind the competition for 2026.

Next year will see a significant regulation change, which could change the power dynamics in Formula 1 altogether. Maybe it will be Williams that end up with the strongest car? Maybe it will be Mercedes? Ferrari? But it will undoubtedly not be Red Bull if they shift their full focus to 2026 well after their rivals do.

As said, Max Verstappen is a realist. He KNOWS that this season is not going to get much better. So what's stopping Red Bull from saying: ‘We officially write off 2025, all focus on 2026’.

With his words, Helmut Marko gives the first push towards that. It will be just a few weeks before those words also become reality.