Helmut Marko has revealed that Red Bull’s summit meeting on Thursday was intended to “calmly address” Max Verstappen’s “wishes and criticisms” related to the RB21 car.

Verstappen’s hopes of winning a fifth consecutive World Championship in F1 2025 appear to be under threat following a muted start to the new season for Red Bull.

Helmut Marko: Max Verstappen working out ‘next steps’ in key Red Bull meeting

After Verstappen salvaged a second-placed finish in Australia, the true extent of Red Bull’s shortcomings became apparent at last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

Verstappen qualified and finished fourth in Shanghai as Oscar Piastri claimed McLaren’s second straight victory, with Lando Norris completing a one-two finish for the reigning Constructors’ Champions.

Verstappen remains second in the World Championship after the first two races, eight points behind leader Norris, with Mercedes driver George Russell a point behind in third. Piastri currently sits fourth, a further point behind Russell, after claiming his third career victory in China.

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Red Bull’s underwhelming start to F1 2025 comes after the team lost their way with the development of last year’s RB20 car, with Verstappen overcoming a 10-race winless streak – his longest barren run since 2020 – to clinch a fourth Drivers’ title.

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com during pre-season testing in Bahrain last month, technical director Pierre Waché confirmed that Red Bull’s plan was to start 2025 with a lower performance ceiling in order to achieve a wider operating window, with the team bringing more performance to the car as the season develops.

However, Verstappen revealed ahead of the Australian GP that the RB21 has retained its predecessor’s trait of struggling over kerbs and bumps, which proved a major weakness last season.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit held a meeting at their factory on Thursday to discuss Red Bull’s start to the season, with the team’s key figures believed to have been in attendance.

And Marko has revealed that solving Red Bull’s woes was the primary reason behind the summit with Verstappen working with engineers to establish a way forward with the RB21.

He told Austrian outlet OE24: “This meeting is primarily about Max sitting down with the technicians and going through the next steps.

“The aim is to calmly address Max’s wishes and criticisms.”

Marko’s comments come after Red Bull announced that Yuki Tsunoda will become Verstappen’s new team-mate from next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, with Liam Lawson demoted to the Racing Bulls junior outfit after struggling in Australia and China.

In a statement provided to PlanetF1.com by Red Bull, team principal Christian Horner confirmed that the move was “purely” a sporting decision aimed at boosting the team’s hopes of regaining the Constructors’ title in F1 2025.

Horner also claimed that Tsunoda’s greater experience will help develop the RB21 over the course of the season.

He said: “We came into the 2025 season with two ambitions, to retain the World Drivers’ Championship and to reclaim the Constructors’ title and this is purely a sporting decision.

“We acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done with the RB21 and Yuki’s experience will prove highly beneficial in helping to develop the current car.

“We welcome him to the team and are looking forward to seeing him behind the wheel of the RB21.”

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Red Bull’s start to the season is also likely to reignite the debate surrounding the future of Verstappen, who has been persistently linked with a move away from the team over the last 12 months.

Although Verstappen is officially under contract until the end of 2028, Horner confirmed to media including PlanetF1.com at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix that the World Champion’s deal contains a “performance element”, which could allow him to leave sooner if Red Bull fail to provide a competitive car.

It has been speculated that Verstappen will be able to trigger an exit clause if he is lower than third in the Drivers’ standings after a significant portion of the F1 2025 season has been completed, increasing the urgency to find a solution to the RB21’s current woes.

If true, Verstappen’s exit clause would mirror an arrangement widely reported to have been included in at least one of his previous Red Bull contracts.

It was claimed by a respected F1 reporter over the winter that talks to take Verstappen to Aston Martin are “ongoing” with Mercedes also widely expected to renew their interest in the World Champion this year ahead of the major F1 2026 regulation changes.

Asked about his future in the aftermath of the Chinese Grand Prix, Verstappen claimed that nothing has changed regarding his situation at Red Bull.

He said: “I hear this all the time, but for me nothing changes.

“I’m actually very relaxed, I’m very positive in my mind, I’m enjoying life.

“So every time I jump in the car, I just try to do the best I can and I’m not thinking about anything else, to be honest, because I feel good in life in general, if that’s in the car, outside the car, and that’s actually what matters the most.”

Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, distanced himself from a potential move for Verstappen in China, insisting that there is “no exchange” between the two parties.

He told Sky Germany: “No reaction. The silly season starts early this year, maybe now.

“We stand behind the decision we have made and our two drivers.”

Pressed on Verstappen, Wolff was dismissive: “That question is not relevant now. There is no exchange there.”

Verstappen’s father Jos recently took to social media to laugh off a Dutch F1 pundit’s prediction that his son will start the F1 2026 with Mercedes, describing the claim as “nonsense.”

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