Verstappen defends key driving style aspect that has axed all his teammates

This brutal style has been coupled with his desire for a direct front end, which has hindered the Dutchman's teammates at Red Bull.

Many superb drivers, including Alex Albon and Sergio Perez, have tried and failed to match Verstappen in the same car.

Despite dominating his current teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, Verstappen has had a relatively difficult start to 2025. He has just two wins to his name in Japan and Imola.

McLaren have been the dominant force with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as Verstappen clings onto the title fight.

Verstappen has a unique style behind the wheel that is notoriously difficult for his teammates to grasp effectively.

The four-time world champion defended his approach ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, as it has yielded a lot of success.

He said in the press conference when reminded of Williams driver Albon saying it made the car tricky to drive: "The thing is that I don’t know any better, right? I’ve basically started with Red Bull, so I only know one car. And that’s how I drive. I adapt to it. Is it the best? Is it the fastest? Is it not? I don’t know."

Albon was teammates with Verstappen at Red Bull in 2019 and 2020 before getting dropped after lacking raw speed.

Verstappen added that adaptability is key to maximise his potential: "I just adapt to what I have – or just drive what I have under me. And, yeah, it’s been performing for many years very well. We, as a team, have done great things. And this year, last year, other teams have also stepped up. Now it’s up to us to try and find more performance. But every car, I guess, when you drive on the limit, is not easy."

McLaren have laid down the benchmark in 2025 while Verstappen has extracted everything from the Red Bull to keep up.

The championship may be out of reach, as any non-score for the Red Bull driver may remove him from contention.

He will also have to be careful at the Red Bull Ring as Verstappen sits on 11 penalty points. A 12th penalty point this weekend would trigger a one-race ban.