Max Verstappen wasn't buying what some were selling this summer as Red Bull’s early F1 dominance faltered, with allegations of a banned braking system and pointed jabs from rivals surprising the championship leader.
Red Bull enjoyed a blistering start to the season, with Verstappen winning four of the first five races. But things shifted around the Miami Grand Prix.
McLaren's major upgrade package transformed the team’s MCL38, while Red Bull, by their own admission, went down a development dead-end. Struggles mounted, with Verstappen's Spanish Grand Prix victory marking their last win.
As the Milton Keynes-based outfit worked to resolve its issues, rumors began circulating, particularly around Red Bull’s alleged use of asymmetric braking – a technique involving different braking forces on each side of the car to enhance cornering.
In response, the FIA tightened regulations surrounding asymmetric braking, ensuring that a loophole in the 2026 rules would be closed and applying the changes retroactively to 2024.
Although the governing body clarified that no current team was using a system that violated the new regulations, many pointed fingers at Red Bull, speculating that the team had been quietly forced to abandon a previously legal advantage.
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Verstappen, reflecting on the swirling rumors, found the entire situation baffling.
"People always come up with different stuff," he said in an interview with Motorsport.com.
"I find it really bizarre how they come up with some of these things, but it is what it is. It's part of the game, but I usually just let it go.
"I've been in F1 for 10 years now and I'm not wasting time on all those stories. I mean, I barely read anything about F1 anyway.
“Of course, sometimes I see something or someone else tells me: ‘Did you see what this and that person said?' But I always say people can think what they want, I'm not going to waste my energy on that. So, I don't really care about what other people say."
Adding fuel to the fire, McLaren boss Zak Brown weighed in during Red Bull's struggles, claiming that the team’s internal battles had "destabilised" the outfit, even going so far as to call the latter’s environment "pretty toxic."
Verstappen, however, was quick to brush off Brown’s remarks and take a broader view of the situation, saying that all rival teams should focus on their own problems rather than stirring controversy.
"People that say all sorts of stuff should just focus on their own team," commented the Dutchman.
"That's nothing specifically against Zak Brown, by the way, it applies to everyone. People just need to focus on themselves, and that's what I'm doing as well."
On track, the growing rivalry between Red Bull and McLaren has led to more intense competition, including a notable incident in Austria where Verstappen and championship rival Lando Norris collided.
©McLaren
However, despite the heightened competition, Verstappen remains unfazed and believes the current battle is less tense than his title fight with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in 2021.
“Yes, because right now we still have four teams at the front, while back then you just had the same two people up front," he explained.
"Of course, 2021 was my first world championship, so that was very different already. I think I'm a bit more relaxed about it now.”
With a 52-point lead in the Drivers' Championship with six rounds to go, Verstappen remains determined to defend his title but insists the pressure is far less intense than in his first championship campaign.
"Of course, I want to win and of course, I'm going to do my best to defend that lead. But the feeling is very different from 2021."
As Red Bull works to regain its form and fend off McLaren's challenge, Verstappen is staying focused on the task at hand, ignoring the noise and staying confident in his team’s ability to turn things around.
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