Racing Bulls left pre-season testing for the 2025 Formula 1 season with the third-highest lap count of the 10 teams, as Yuki Tsunoda and debutant Isack Hadjar logged 454 laps between them over the three days of running, just four shy of Mercedes’ chart-topping 458.
And that, along with the fact that there weren’t any “major car issues”, prompted team principal Laurent Mekies to label the test as a “successful” one for the squad:
“Everyone in the factory has put a huge effort into preparing for this test, the final step before we go racing and overall, these past three days were successful,” reflected Mekies. “We had no major car issues, which meant we were able to complete a very high mileage, allowing us to gather plenty of data and learn more about the VCARB 02.”
Unusual conditions make 2025 testing inconclusive for Racing Bulls
Despite the positive initial feeling, Mekies warned that the team can’t draw many conclusions from the test given the “unusual” cold and – at times – rainy conditions around the Sakhir circuit, which they expect will be very different to those of Melbourne in a fortnight’s time, highlighting the importance of correlating the data gathered on the real circuit with the simulator:
“The unusual for Bahrain weather, with quite cold conditions and even some rain, certainly did not help,” he admitted. “But it was the same for all the teams.
“And now when we travel to Melbourne we will learn much more about how the car works, especially its interaction with the tyres at the much higher track temperatures we can expect to find towards the end of the Australian summer.
“Before that, we are now rushing back to Faenza and Milton Keynes to analyse all the data and to see how the results that emerged from the Sakhir track correlate with the simulator.
“There are a few days left to prepare for a very busy season, and we probably won’t really have an idea of where we stand until the end of Saturday qualifying in Albert Park.”
The 47-year-old also praised the work put in by its drivers – and revealed he was impressed with Isack Hadjar’s “quick learner” trait, as he got his first running on the VCARB-02:
“The drivers did an excellent job, Yuki [is] as motivated as ever and Isack is proving to be a quick learner,” said Mekies.
Hadjar praises “perfect job” from the team…
The young French driver shared the same view as his team boss, believing his Racing Bulls team did a “perfect job” to get as much running as they could in testing, and revealed he did his first-ever full race simulation with 57 consecutive laps around the Sakhir circuit, helping him gain “a lot of experience” in the 2025 car:
“[On Friday] morning, I did more laps than any other driver and we did a perfect job of getting through the programme we had set ourselves. We did everything we wanted to, we tested all the items on the list and I gained a lot of experience, getting a good understanding of the car.
“I also did a race simulation over 57 laps, which is something I had never done before,” said Hadjar.
…but points out key area to improve on
Although he was satisfied with his long-run pace and the overall feeling of the three days, the Frenchman was quite open in admitting that the qualifying pace needs “more work” to get the car in its optimal working window. He also emphasized how he is “progressing” well in building a relationship with his closest engineers and mechanics in the garage:
“I think we were quite good on the long runs, but with more work still to do on the short ones, in order to get the most out of the car on a single lap.
“Overall, it’s been a very positive three days during which we gathered lots of data that we will now analyse and look to correlate in the simulator next week.
“I’ve enjoyed working with the team since I joined and the relationship is progressing, especially with Pierre [Hamelin], my race engineer, the other engineers and the mechanics. It’s going very well. I’m really pumped about Melbourne!”
Tsunoda happy to be driving again after the winter
His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was also left satisfied with a “productive” test, although he also praised the long-run pace of 2025 Racing Bulls in pre-season testing, he wasn’t quite as open as to whether the team still has some work to do in order to improve single lap pace, which could indicate that it will be the team’s early focus as the championship heads to Melbourne in two weeks’ time:
“We have had three productive days ending with [Friday’s] good quality [afternoon] session, combining long and short runs,” said Tsunoda. “The long run pace looked quite good, but the most important aspect of this test is the useful data we now have to work with.
“It has already shown us which areas we need to focus on now and for future development.
“We made progress over the three days and, on a personal level, it was great to be driving a fast car again after the winter, being in a new car and running with other cars on track.
“Well done to the people back in the factory in Italy and the UK, who developed the car during the off-season. I’m feeling ready for Australia.”
The squad, which was renamed to Racing Bulls this year following a transitional year in 2024 where the team was called Visa Cash App RB, will look to improve on its eighth place finish from last year.
With a striking new livery and a new driver onboard, and the successful pre-season testing from 2025 might just give them the platform to battle Alpine and Aston Martin for fifth place in the constructors’ championship.
