Max Verstappen warned over 'powerful' Red Bull approach: 'That's pretty demotivating'

Bernie Collins believes Max Verstappen's claim he will not win another grand prix this F1 season could be "demotivating" to his Red Bull team.

The Dutchman has not held back in criticising the troublesome RB21, which suffered its worst weekend of the year at the pre-summer break Hungarian Grand Prix.

Such is the extent of the issues with the car, the four-time F1 drivers' champion had not only essentially conceded his crown to either Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris, but he also does not believe he can beat the McLaren drivers in any of the 10 remaining grands prix.

At 97 points behind the Australian side of the Woking squad's garage, it would take nothing short of something extraordinary for Verstappen to emerge as champion for the fifth consecutive time.

However, the 27-year-old has already put together two stunning drives across the opening 14 rounds of the campaign to triumph at Suzuka and Imola.

The 65-time grand prix winner adding to his haul does remain plausible, and Collins has questioned how helpful it is for him to suggest it is not.

"I don't think any driver says: 'we're not going to win anything this year' as a motivator to the team, that's pretty demotivating," she said on Sky Sports F1.

"If I was an engineer, I think that would really hit you a little bit."

The strategy analyst-turned-pundit highlighted how Verstappen will be hoping Red Bull can remedy the problems with its car for the start of the sweeping regulations changes that come into force at the start of next season.

"So, I think he's hoping that, with Laurent Mekies, [a] very technical guy, they're hoping that they can get on top of the issues that this Red Bull has had for several seasons now maybe, get the second driver working well, and start to...

"Next year, they've got this real line in the sand, a real chance to start again, but they need to get on top of these fundamental issues that there have been for a little while now."

Collins expanded on Verstappen's public remarks about his inability to win in the RB21, explaining that she feels it is a method of underlining his dissatisfaction with the direction of the team.

Verstappen, despite being contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2028, has committed to staying with the Milton Keynes squad next year amid considerable speculation he would pursue avenues to get out of his deal early.

However, the threat of him leaving continues to loom over the six-time constructors' champions.

"And Max, I think, is just using it as a powerful way of communicating with the team: 'I am really not happy, and something needs to change in this car to make me happy', and that's what will hopefully drive the entire engineering force behind him to get a car that he can be more competitive with next year," she added.