‘Professional problem’ Max Verstappen avoided ‘denting’ legendary status

Having made the call to stay with Red Bull, Max Verstappen avoided damaging “the legend of Max Verstappen,” which would’ve taken a blow had he swapped teams and it hadn’t worked out.

Instead, says Alex Brundle, he can continue as a “professional problem” to McLaren by delivering more than his Red Bull F1 car is capable of.

‘The legend of Max Verstappen is definitely slightly dented then’

In a season in which McLaren has dominated with 11 grand prix wins, Verstappen has unsettled Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ title fight by taking pole positions, race wins and even frustrating the Australian as he kept him at bay for 15 laps to win the Sprint at Spa.

Though his hopes of a fifth successive title are ebbing away, he’s now 88 points behind Norris, F1 2025 has shown what Verstappen can do in a Red Bull F1 car that others clearly cannot.

It has Brundle declaring the Dutchman made the right call by deciding to stay with Red Bull next season, rather than swapping to an unfamiliar team and car.

This season, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz have shown that swapping teams, especially after an extended period with their former team, is more difficult than expected.

Hamilton spent 12 years at Mercedes, winning six World titles, but has yet to reach the podium with Ferrari in 14 starts.

As for Sainz, he was with Ferrari for four years before joining Williams. The Spaniard was widely tipped to beat his team-mate Alex Albon but instead trails him by 16 points to 54.

Max Verstappen net worth revealed

👉 Max Verstappen net worth: How the World Champion has built his incredible fortune

👉 F1 driver net worth 2025: The 10 reported richest drivers on the F1 grid

Brundle reckons Verstappen is better off being an annoyance to McLaren, stealing unexpected results, than taking the chance that things don’t work out with a new team.

“He’s just a professional problem at this point,” Brundle told the Red Flag podcast of Verstappen. “He’s just a problem for all of the year.

“Max, we know, he’s going to stay with Red Bull but he’s considering his future, right?

“Negotiations are continually going on. It wouldn’t be long of Max like really underperforming…

“Obviously we know the car was not there for him [in Hungary]. It was absolutely torrid. I watched it all weekend.

“Let’s say he did the rest of the end of this season out of the back of the points, then went into the new regulation set and then the first half of next season with Red Bull as well; back end of the top 10. Like really struggling.

“At that point, I don’t think anybody’s ever going to say he’s not one of the greatest drivers in the world.

“But moving in terms of his options, you never know what can happen then on.

“The legend of Max Verstappen is definitely slightly dented then in comparison to him being out front, clearly outperforming a Red Bull, which is super tricky to drive or delivering the full potential of a Red Bull, which is super tricky to drive, or then delivering race results where he’s slipping it by Piastri in Imola and being able to sort of lead races in a really difficult car.

“So, he still needs to be that problem even though he knows he’s not going to win the championship now.”

Read next: Sergio Perez set for sensational F1 comeback with confirmation expected