Ralf Schumacher: Max Verstappen unlikely to revive title hopes

Ralf Schumacher says Max Verstappen’s win at Monza has not put him back in the 2025 championship fight.

Asked by Formel1.de if the Red Bull star is still out of contention, the German replied simply: “Yes.” Looking ahead to Baku, he added: “He could put a smaller wing on the Red Bull there again. But Azerbaijan, I’m sorry to say, has never really been his circuit. Sergio Perez was often stronger than him there. I think it’ll be a difficult weekend for him.”

Schumacher does, however, see clear signs of progress at Red Bull following Christian Horner’s exit, crediting new boss Laurent Mekies with a more technical approach. “Christian Horner was someone who loved motorsport and did a great job,” he told Sky Deutschland.

“But he’s more of a manager. And I think Horner doesn’t grasp these connections as quickly as a pure engineer.” He described Mekies as “a great talent, especially when it comes to bringing people together.

"He doesn’t think he’s that important, he just wants things to work. “It reminds me a bit of Fred Vasseur, who said ‘I don’t want to be at Ferrari, I want to win with Ferrari.’ That’s exactly Mekies’ attitude. He loves it, and now, of course, he has a great opportunity.”

According to Schumacher, Mekies’ ability to engage directly with engineers could be decisive. “When something is presented to him, he can immediately say, ‘Looks good, but we still need to go in this or that direction,' and he can go around it five times, maybe even eight times, depending on the structure.”

Speaking to T-Online, Schumacher said Red Bull’s internal drama earlier in the year means Verstappen is already out of the title picture.

“I think Red Bull has spent too long dealing with internal problems,” he explained. “But they did solve the (Horner) problem. “His successor, Laurent Mekies, is a pioneer of a new generation of team bosses who have a primarily technical background. And I think that’s very important.

"I believe it’s now extremely important for a decision-maker in Formula 1 to have not only a grasp of company policy, but also a technical understanding. Only then is it still possible to bring together people in a team who are a good fit. It’s simply no longer enough to be just a manager.”