This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
According to Giedo van der Garde on TV last night and Helmut Marko in the livestream on Sunday before the race,
Max will get the new PU from Brazil in the car again this weekend, which they took out for the GP last weekend.
2025 F1 Title Contenders Press Conference | 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 15:54 min.
They were asked about family being there.
Max: "No, my parents are not here, I didn't plan for that, but then I didn't plan to be
in the title fight..."
Max on what he did before arriving to abu dhabi: “Spent some time with my daughter,
figured some stuff out for GT3 for next year, figured out some stuff for my sim team
planning for next year.”
Max Verstappen: "The trophy is the same, I have four of those at home. I've already achieved everything I wanted.
I’m going to watch as much as possible during my race on the screens along the track, which is quite possible here.”
Last edited by Wouter on 04 Dec 2025, 15:47, edited 1 time in total.
2025 F1 Title Contenders Press Conference | 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 15:54 min.
They were asked about family being there.
Max: "No, my parents are not here, I didn't plan for that, but then I didn't plan to be
in the title fight..."
Max on what he did before arriving to abu dhabi: “Spent some time with my daughter,
figured some stuff out for GT3 for next year, figured out some stuff for my sim team
planning for next year.”
Max Verstappen: "The trophy is the same, I have four of those at home. I've already achieved everything I wanted.
I’m going to watch as much as possible during my race on the screens along the track, which is quite possible here.”
When you compare it to what Lando said and consider Max answered second, he was playing mind games for sure.
These race runs are very interesting. Lots of deg so far, everyone dropping a lot of time, including Lando who's running on mediums, but I don't think it will be enough of a problem for the race, given the cooler temps later.
Still a good session for Max, strong in the 1st and 2nd sectors, competitive in the final one.
I remember reading (I watch it on mute) Max's 'radio text' that said 'car is broken' and when asked where specifically, he said 'everywhere'. I think this is one of those weekends where they struggle to find a base setup, while Mclaren are already in 'fine tuning' mode in FP1 itself. Looking at the lap data, Norris was mega-sandbagging with his quali run, I am expecting a pole time of 1.21.8xx to 1.21.9xx tomorrow. It was really funny in turn9 - Norris was lifting off earlier and back onto throttle later, than Max, and still he was like 1-2 tenths faster because the McL39 rotated so much better.
They have 3 practice sessions to find the proper setup, I am confident we will be strong for tomorrow and on the sunday.
We might win this race, but for WDC miracle is needed. I have low expectation going into this race, why because like Max said Mclaren should have this in the pocket many races ago. No worries if it doesnt happen, the team give it all until the very end.
Nah, track improvements won't be enough for sector 3, the MCL is astronomically clear in that sector. I don't think there's much Red bull can do, the car is simply inferior in that sector.
Mclaren is so much better coming out of turn 9, tighter line, higher average speed. Same in turn 14. I'm not sure Red Bull are willing to add more downforce, think they will ride it out with the current setup.
Indeed but Red Bull is poor in qualy in the last races. They improved in tyre wear and general race pace. Just start around P3 or P2 and we have a shot. Mclaren will dominate the qualy.
