Helmut Marko speaks out about Verstappen's near future at Red Bull

After the Hungarian Grand Prix - which ended disastrously for Red Bull - Helmut Marko spoke about the importance of retaining his star driver.

“It's a big relief and the whole team is really, really enthusiastic to make a better car for him next year,” the external advisor told a select group of media, including GPblog.

Who will be Verstappen's teammate in '26 remains unclear. His current teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished outside of the points in Hungary, although his starting position from the pit lane already put him in a difficult situation.

Marko explained that Red Bull chose to replace power unit compotenents on Tsunoda's car after he was eliminated in Q1.

Although Tsunoda didn't eventually score any points, there was some optimism about the Japanese driver's performance. “He was as near as never before. One tenth he was behind. Unfortunately, he was dropped out in Q1. So, he's moving up,” said Marko.