Max Verstappen Shrugs Off Driver Standings Fight As Red Bull Targets Constructors’ P3

Max Verstappen says finishing second in the Drivers’ Championship means nothing to him at this point in the season. He instead wants to help Red Bull grab third in the Constructors’ Championship.

The four-time champion made his comments at the drivers’ press conference on Thursday, ahead of the Mexico GP weekend. Red Bull and McLaren are level on 355 points in the team standings, so the fight is on for third place.

When asked how much a strong Drivers’ finish matters, Verstappen didn’t hesitate: “I don’t really care, because it’s only about first. So for me, I don’t care if I’m second or fifth.”

He then spoke about the goal he does care about: “The only thing that we want to try and achieve is to be P3 in the Constructors’. That’s what I think the team wants, so that’s what we’ll try to do.”

It’s a blunt statement from a driver who could finish inside the top three in the championship. Verstappen is currently fourth in the standings on 236 points, six behind George Russell in second and five behind Lewis Hamilton in third. Charles Leclerc is in fifth, three points behind the Dutchman.

Red Bull’s Late Surge Puts McLaren on the Back Foot

Red Bull spent months waiting for a win, came close in Azerbaijan, then took back-to-back victories in Malaysia and Singapore. A big aerodynamic upgrade package in Baku made the RB22 faster in the slow-speed corners, something it lacked since the start of the season. The team hasn’t finished outside the top three since 2015.

Even after a messy afternoon in Austin, Texas, Red Bull moved up in the standings to third. Team principal Laurent Mekies pointed to that gain when speaking to the media after the U.S. Grand Prix: “Despite all that, we have now moved up to third in the constructors’ championship, and Max is now only six points behind second place in the drivers’ championship.”

Isack Hadjar shares the team’s mindset. The French driver finished sixth in Austin and said: “It’s great to now be third in the Constructors’ Championship after Austin, so we arrive in Mexico looking to keep climbing as high as we can.”

McLaren, the reigning Constructors’ champion, lost its chance to defend the title in Austin and is now fighting to stay in third. It sits fourth on countback because Red Bull has four second-place finishes to McLaren’s two.

Oscar Piastri admitted on Thursday that the pace gap is real: “I think at the moment, we know we’re not as competitive consistently as what Red Bull are. But we’re adding performance to the car still.”

Lando Norris blamed rival upgrades: “The car has been horrible and difficult to drive the whole season; just other teams have brought a lot more upgrades since and improved a lot more than what we have. Nothing more than that.”

Max Verstappen Looks Past Austin and Toward 2027

The biggest concern for Max Verstappen now is next year’s car: “[There are] still a lot of things that we want to change, and I hope that it will bring the car a bit more together. That’s been the target already for a long time.”

He added: “Of course, we have improved a lot this year, but I think we are nowhere near satisfied enough, so there will still be a decent amount of changes for next year.”

Mekies said before Austin that the 2027 car now takes priority, as reported by Sky Sports: “There will be no other substantial upgrade to the car. Don’t get me wrong, it does not mean that we will not continue to push very hard to improve, continue to push very hard to use every remaining race to learn for this year and to learn for next year.”

Austin gave Red Bull plenty to study. Verstappen finished third after he couldn’t hold off Leclerc for second. He spoke about the problems after the fact: “I had a bit of damage on my car. Some other bits were not where we wanted them to be, and from the engine side, it was not where we wanted it to be operating and performing, also in terms of horsepower.”

Max Verstappen has won in Mexico City five times, yet he won’t promise a sixth: “It’s not the same track, so it’s a very different scenario. It’s very hard to say.” He will also skip Friday’s first practice session, with Ayumu Iwasa driving his car.

Sunday will show whether Red Bull has fixed enough. Six points is a small gap, so Verstappen could end the weekend in second without chasing it.

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