Team leaders dismiss the idea of Verstappen moving to Racing Bulls as a joke.

      "We are two teams that operate in different ways."

      Fernando Alonso humorously noted after Zandvoort that if Max Verstappen had been driving a Racing Bulls car, he might already be a world champion again. This remark came after Isack Hadjar's impressive podium finish in the junior Red Bull-affiliated team, which is also driven by Liam Lawson.

      Verstappen himself acknowledged after finishing second that the performance of the senior team's car was lacking. "I'm happy to be on the podium," he mentioned to Viaplay, "but in terms of speed, it wasn’t great. I secured third place purely because of qualifying." He only moved up to second when Lando Norris had to retire. "We were racing against Racing Bulls, our smaller team, the entire race," Verstappen stated. "It's not ideal. The car simply isn't fast enough."

      Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko also recognized the magnitude of the issue, telling Österreich that the gap to McLaren was "significant - a second per lap" during the Dutch GP if Norris and Oscar Piastri had been pushing hard. This situation has led to a lighthearted theory suggesting that Verstappen should switch to Racing Bulls to chase his fifth world title.

      "I suppose we're joking about it, like everyone else," noted Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer. "But ultimately, we're two teams that operate differently, and it’s not really a concern. It's more of a running joke among all, but it's akin to flying to the moon - it's just not going to happen."

      Team boss Alan Permane was similarly dismissive when asked if Verstappen might at least try out the car in practice. "Somebody asked me about that this weekend," he revealed. "Whether Max would join us in FP1. Of course not. We’re focused on maximizing our car’s performance, just as Red Bull is on theirs."

      Nevertheless, with Hadjar only seconds behind Verstappen at the finish line, questions remain about how far the rookie may be permitted to compete against the main team. "If he wasn't allowed to try to overtake Verstappen, it would breach the regulations," team principal Laurent Mekies asserted. "So yes, Hadjar is certainly allowed to challenge the Red Bull cars."