Jacques Villeneuve shuts down 'Red Bull built for Max Verstappen' claims

1997 Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has defended Red Bull after claims that the Milton Keynes outfit builds its cars around four-time champion Max Verstappen.

Red Bull has struggled in recent years to find a team-mate for Verstappen who has been able to extract the same performance from the car as the Dutchman, which has led to claims that the squad builds its cars to suit Verstappen's driving style.

"Everybody's been saying, ‘Oh, but the car is made for Max. Poor, poor second driver.’ Actually, no. Max is working on it, making the car better and better," Villeneuve said during an appearance on the High Performance podcast.

"If you're incapable of driving it or figuring out what the issue is during the season, you'll end up going slower and slower and slower. Not because you're actually slower, but because Max will go faster and faster. That's because you're incapable of actually understanding what is going on with the car.

"So, obviously, they will work with Max and obviously, the car will become undrivable for you. We saw it with [Sergio] Perez. Every year, they would start the season on par, and that was it. Perez didn't start going slower. Max started going faster and faster and faster."

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

He added: "Very simple. Because he could actually comprehend what was going on with the car. Sometimes you'll have understeer because the front is too soft, other times because it's too stiff. Some other time it all depends what is actually happening.

"And in the middle of that, you have to add the aero package. The closer you are to the ground, the more grip you have. So, you need a very stiff car. But the stiff car mechanically slides. So, you need to figure out what you need to do to get into that perfect zone where you drive the car, where the car becomes an extra part of your body that you don't have to think about it anymore. Very few drivers can do that."

Mexican driver Sergio Perez was replaced as Verstappen's team-mate for 2025 by rookie Liam Lawson. But the New Zealander found himself moved to Racing Bulls after just two race weekends, with Yuki Tsunoda taking the position at Red Bull.

Now, the Japanese driver is set to move into the reserve driver role for 2026 as Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar has been confirmed to take the position alongside Verstappen.

While Perez has had a year out of the championship after losing his seat at Red Bull, he is set to return in 2026 with Cadillac when the American outfit joins the grid as the 11th team.