Marko 'wouldn't bet' on Verstappen repeating his 2025 comeback

In 2025, at one point, the four-time world champion was more than 100 points behind the championship leader in the drivers' standings, but he missed out on a fifth consecutive title by just a couple of points at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Speaking to Krone Zeitung, the Austrian does not believe another comeback is possible for the Red Bull Racing driver.

He said: "They aren’t consistently fast. Moreover, things don’t seem to be going entirely smoothly between Max and the engineers. The competition from McLaren and Ferrari is too strong, and the car is too unstable. I certainly wouldn’t bet on that."

At the moment, Verstappen is 110 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the drivers' standings.

About the Dutchman's future, Marko would like to see him remain Red Bull Racing. He added: "I sincerely hope he stays.”

At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen did not confirm whether he would stay with the Milton Keynes-based team for next season. He told GPblog, among others: "I am feeling good, and you know, from my side, what I'm saying that there is nothing to say is because there's nothing going on.

He continued: "So, for me, I'm just focused on trying to get the most out of the car, that's already complicated enough to deal with. That's what I'm just doing. I mean, this team is like a second family to me. I'm just trying to understand our car a bit better and of course get back to winning ways.