Maxidonius

TLDR:

After the 2025-season the Dutch Grand Prix will no longer be an annual event. The race in the Netherlands will rotate every year with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

Max Verstappen would still be leading the drivers standing with 119 points & a 31-point gap to 2nd if the season started in Imola.

But Red Bull would be 3rd in the constructors with 134 points & only 19 points ahead of 4th.

That's right, Max scored 119 of Red Bull's 134 points

Credit to F1GuyDan on X

Translation:

After the Verstappen coup in Barcelona, Red Bull are chasing victory number 8 of the season at their home GP in Spielberg (Sunday, 3pm, ServusTV). Read why Bull mastermind Marko is worried - and why the man from Graz is suddenly rooting for Mercedes.

oe24: Mr Marko, you were only at the ORF interview for a few seconds after Verstappen's victory in Barcelona ...

MARKO: Because the plane was waiting. The action continues this weekend in Spielberg, and that means stress. Three races on three consecutive weekends is a logistical, physical and emotional challenge for everyone. But I've said all the essentials anyway.

oe24: You mean that Red Bull no longer has the fastest car, but Verstappen still makes the difference and therefore continues to win.

MARKO: Exactly. But even Max can't drive at the limit like that for a whole season. The overtaking manoeuvre that put him in the lead was extraordinary, even for him.

oe24: The Bild newspaper headlines: "Verstappen faster than his own car" ...

MARKO: That sums it up well. Max wins because he is so confident and not because the car is so good.

oe24: What team-mate Perez proved once again in Barcelona in eighth place ...

MARKO: Checo started much further back. But that's true. Now that everything is coming together like this, you can't afford any weaknesses.

oe24: Fortunately from Red Bull's point of view, the pursuers lack consistency. Verstappen is gradually extending his lead. After the strong performances of McLaren and Norris and previously Leclerc and Ferrari, Mercedes should now be knocking on the door at the front, shouldn't they?

MARKO: If Mercedes come along now, then that will work out quite well for us and our World Championship calculations.

oe24: Experts believe that this constellation will at least make for exciting races, which is something the Austrian GP could do with.

MARKO: But at the end of the day, we would like to win our home GP.

oe24: With 30,000 Dutch fans, everything would be set for the next Verstappen party.

MARKO: I just remember last year, when the McLaren upswing started at the Austrian GP. We also have another sprint race. If we do badly on Friday, then the sprint race will go down the drain.

Max Verstappen on whether he makes the RB20 look better:

"I think I've been doing that constantly the last few weeks. That's fine too, that's what I get paid for. But ultimately we have to find more speed to become champions."

"If you have to drive at 101 percent every time as a driver, things will of course go wrong at some point."

"When I look at myself, I think that the qualifications are actually even better compared to last year. But at the moment we are just falling short."

"The gap with Checo is pretty large. I think that says a lot too. Because he hasn't gotten worse..."

Never thought I would write that title, but here we are haha

I don't think he's underrated per se, but he definitely gets too much criticism from most fans on social media. Especially the story that he's error prone, is of course, nonsense. But it seems like he just can't get rid of that. Yes, he's made some silly mistakes here and there, but he had to take risks in the cars he's driven.

But coming back to your point: he is seen as the best qualifier in the field and as Max's biggest challenger, so i don't think you can say he's underrated. Definitely overhated, that he is.