Red Bull has started the 2025 season with some doubts, but Max Verstappen’s second place in the Australian Grand Prix has brought back some of the excitement for the Austrian team, which, although it does not have a dominant car, the performance of the Dutchman and the planned future improvements allow the team to dream again.
Since the preseason they knew that McLaren had taken a step forward. But the Australian GP confirmed that Red Bull is not as far behind as they thought and that there is a possibility that if they make the necessary changes they can start to close the gap.
Helmut Marko and Christian Horner agree that the reason why the RB21 has had a bad start to the season is the degradation of the tires. Red Bull hopes to be fighting for victories again on a regular basis with the arrival of improvements for the next races.
Verstappen satisfied with performance
The four-time world champion was happy with his role in the last race; the Red Bull driver took risks with the strategy during the race and although he couldn’t beat Lando Norris, he left with a good feeling, “It was a difficult race, but fun. We pushed until the end and we took some very valuable points,” said the Dutchman as soon as the race was over.
Despite the fact that McLaren seems to have a superior pace, Verstappen is confident that the improvements planned for the RB21 will reduce the difference. “The car is where we expected it to be, but we need to develop it. In the first stint, we lacked pace compared to the McLarens, but we are in the fight,” he said.
The team itself already knows the areas in which it has to improve and they want to introduce the updates within the next three to five races. The main concern is the excessive wear and tear of the tires themselves, correctly, a problem that they hope to have solved shortly.
Key improvements for Red Bull
Helmut Marko has confirmed the involvement of the Red Bull Racing team in improving the RB21 car. One of the car’s weakest points, which limits its race pace, making it less competitive in the fight with McLaren, is tire degradation.
“We knew McLaren was faster from the Bahrain tests. The advantage was half a second, but we’ve reduced it to two or three tenths. The problem is that the degradation comes earlier for us.
Christian Horner has also expressed confidence in the work done on the car. “This car is much more stable than the RB20. We have a good base on which to work, and that will allow us to improve the balance of the car and reduce tire degradation,” said the team principal.
The FIA could benefit Red Bull
An external factor could help Red Bull in its battle to catch up with McLaren: the FIA has confirmed that it will tighten regulations on wings, something that is giving the British team a fundamental advantage at the start of this season.
The technical regulations will have a variation in the regulations of article 3.15.17, the tolerated limit in the slot-gap of the rear wing goes from two millimeters to 0.5 mm; this intervention seeks to limit the aerodynamic effect that McLaren has exploited to achieve a higher top speed and cornering stability.
We will have to see how it influences performance, although it could be key in reducing the differences between McLaren and Red Bull in the next races on the calendar. With these variables in play, Red Bull and Max Verstappen have reason to be optimistic about the 2025 championship.