Max Verstappen: Red Bull can’t win Australian Grand Prix

Reigning champion Max Verstappen has said he does not believe Red Bull has a car capable of challenging for victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Verstappen won a fourth straight title in 2024 despite his team sliding to third in the constructors’ championship.

I don’t think we can fight for the win already in Melbourne,” Verstappen told Dutch media at an event on Friday.

Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit and the opening races on the calendar are outliers to some of the more conventional tracks later in the year, meaning the result of the event might not provide a concrete idea of the competitive order for the season.

Verstappen’s closest rival last year was Lando Norris, who is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the title in 2025.

When asked who might fight for the championship, Verstappen pointed to Norris’ McLaren team.

“At the moment only one, and that team is orange! That’s a very nice colour of course, but from our side, we still have work to do. Other teams want to see some improvements as well, I think, so at the moment one team is clearly in front,” he said.

“If you look at the lap times, then I think McLaren is the favourite. On our side, not everything went completely smoothly, but on the other hand we have some ideas on how to improve.”

entered the Octagon as public enemy No. 1 to fan favorite Alex Pereira and left as the new UFC light heavyweight champion on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 313.

Ankalaev came out on top by beating “Poatan” to the punch in the first half of the fight and smothering his offense with clinch work in the second half. His stifling performance sucked the air out of T-Mobile Arena and the scorecards were academic, as the fighter out of Dagestan earned a unanimous decision: Two judges scored it 48-47, while a third judge had it 49-46.

Pereira (14-3) wasn’t able to get anything going as Ankalaev (20-1-1) forced him to fight off the back foot for much of the fight. The pressure prevented the Brazilian from uncorking his signature left hook and was relegated to looking for opportunities to counter, which Ankalaev never gave him.

As the rounds wore on and Pereria fell behind on the scorecards, Ankalaev intelligently shifted to crowding the champion with clinchwork. Although he was unable to secure a takedown, Ankalaev was able to wear Pereria down and left him desperately looking for a fight-ending strike that he couldn’t find.

By the final round, the ending was academic. Ankalaev avoided taking any significant punishment. Pereira eventually landed a left hand but had nothing on it. Before he could put any offense together, Ankalaev swarmed in and clinched.

Although the crowd booed the result, it was clear that there was a new leader of the light heavyweights.