In the midst of a season of negative interviews, Renger van der Zande has questioned when Max Verstappen is deliberately doing it to rile up himself and Red Bull.

Although Verstappen is a Grand Prix winner in F1 2025, the season has not gone to plan as he tries to defend the World title and secure his fifth on the trot.

‘It’s all pretty negative around Max Verstappen’

McLaren have stamped their authority as the team to beat, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris winning four of five Grands Prix to sit first and second in the Drivers’ Championship.

The Australian driver has a 10-point lead over his McLaren team-mate with Verstappen third, a further two points off the pace.

But already he fears his chances of winning the championship are over.

“McLaren are not my rivals right now,” he reportedly said in Bahrain. “I am just taking part in this World Championship.”

A week later in Saudi Arabia, he still wasn’t happy with his RB21 despite Helmut Marko’s claim that Red Bull had “made a step forward” with their upgrades.

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“It’s still not where I wanted it to be,” Verstappen told media, including PlanetF1.com.

“Personally I don’t really look at the gap. I think in the end of the day, you have to just go from your own feeling and what you feel in the car over one lap.

“It’s a bit better, but then the long runs, they were very tough still for us.’

IMSA driver Van der Zande wonders whether it is a deliberate ploy from Verstappen to get himself and Red Bull going.

“It’s all pretty negative around Max,” Van der Zande told Ziggo Sport’s De Stamtafel of Verstappen’s interviews. “I think that’s a shame in a way.”

But pondering whether Verstappen may be using his downbeat interviews to put pressure on Red Bull, he continued: “Is this an investment in the future?

“Or does he need this to get the most out of himself? We know that when Max is angry, he goes the extra mile, and he can go even faster, and fight.”

“I think that negativity is unnecessary,” he added. “So say it with a smile that you don’t agree. Give a message that we can use, and then keep it short.”

Keeping it short has also become common from Verstappen’s this season, the Dutchman shutting down David Croft when questioned about his Formula 1 future after Marko admitted he had “great concern” that the Dutchman could opt to leave Red Bull.

Asked if Marko ‘got the wrong end of the stick’, Verstappen replied: “No, I think just focus on commentating, I’ll focus on driving, and then you don’t need to think about any other scenarios.”

He also kept it short with David Coulthard after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where he received a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his Turn 1 battle with Piastri.

“I’m gonna keep it quite short,” he said. “I just want to say big thank you to the fans here in Jeddah. It’s been a great weekend. I love the track and the rest is what it is. I’m looking forward to Miami, so we’ll see you there.”

He didn’t have much more to say during the post-race FIA press conference as he largely kept his own counsel.

“It happened very fast,” he said of that Turn 1 moment. “I think it’s better not to talk about it. Anything I say or try to say about it might get me in trouble.”

Put to him that his answers to media questions have generally been shorter lately, Verstappen was asked if Formula 1 was no longer enjoyable for him.

“No,” he replied. “It has to do with social media in general, and how the world is.

“I prefer not to talk a lot because sometimes your words can be twisted or people interpret it in a different way. It’s honestly better not to say too much. So that’s what I’m trying to do.

“Like I said before, it’s just the world we live in. You can’t share your opinion because it’s not appreciated apparently, or people can’t handle the full truth.

“Honestly, it’s better if I don’t say too much.

“It also saves my time because we already have to do so much. It’s honestly just how everything is becoming. Everyone is super sensitive about everything. And what we have currently, we cannot be critical anyway. So less talking – even better for me.”

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