Max Verstappen has firmly rejected the idea that Red Bull cannot learn anything by continuing to develop its RB21 car.
Given the huge sweeping changes coming to F1 in 2026 with the overhauling of the power units and chassis, teams have started to turn development off for '25, and onto next season.
Teams often bring one big update package after the summer break before switching to the following year's machine, but with the scale of changes for 2026, this has happened even earlier, with the Belgian GP packages expected to be the last for a number of teams.
Verstappen's Red Bull team has suffered a poor 2025 and will not win the constructors' championship, with the Dutchman finding himself 81 points behind leader Oscar Piastri in the drivers' standings.
With this in mind, Red Bull switching its full focus to 2026 early would make sense, but Verstappen feels there are still some learnings to be had with the '25 car.
"No, I think it is still important also this year to learn certain things," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365.
"Because they will also have an effect on next year, the cars will be completely different, but there are still things we can work on and take to next year.
"So, of course, engineering and car design are on next year, but we can still learn a lot about this year."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365’s Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they dissect the Belgian Grand Prix and look ahead to Hungary. The 80-minute delay is a major talking point, as is Lewis Hamilton’s brutal self-critical comment.
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