Team principal Christian Horner spoke in his written media session about Red Bull Racing’s “horrible day” at the F1 Bahrain GP as Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda laboured to P6 and P9 respectively.
During the discussion he tried to explain the lack of performance from the RB21; that his driver Max Verstappen is in the Championship fight still and how everything which could go wrong in Bahrain did go wrong.
Such a big difference in Bahrain
The questions came thick and fast to Horner. The main thing on everyone’s mind was, what is the explanation for why seven days ago in Suzuka – on a track that required good balance and a decent handling car – there has been such a big difference in Bahrain.
Horner was straightforward in his response as he said that he thinks it shows the margins and the windows that teams have to work within. As one would expect from the man steering the ship at Red Bull, he also found positives to take away from the Sakhir desert.
“We’ve been struggling with two issues this weekend.” Horner explained. “One, a braking issue. And secondly, just an imbalance. And when you have that, then the tyre deg, etc., everything looks worse.
“On top of that, we’ve had a horrible day where we had what looks like a wiring loom issue in the pit gantry, which has caused there to be a problem with a traffic light.
“So, yes, all in all, to actually come away with a sixth place and limit it to an eight-point deficit to Lando [Norris], with the challenges that we’ve had, we need to leave here obviously, focus on what we can sort out for Jeddah in five days’ time.”
Electrical issues
Red Bull was not the only team to encounter electrical issues with Mercedes also finding their DRS impacted. However, as to whether they are connected Horner said he would need to look into it.
Unfortunately for them, Red Bull’s two pitstops happened in quick succession and the initial thought after Verstappen’s had been one of human error but Yuki Tsunoda soon faced the same issue and the team then knew it was something more serious.
“Well, Max came in the first stop and the light didn’t do anything. Of course, it’s a very simple system that we expected. Maybe the button hadn’t been pressed hard enough by one of the technicians. The next pit stop was within one minute, and then it happened again. At that point, we went into a manual override on the system and the chief mechanic released the car.”
Recent brake issue
Max Verstappen is a 4-time F1 Drivers’ Champion and he has many of the team’s cars to use as reference points. The recent brake issue is something that gives understandable concern and Horner went into detail about the specifics.
“He’s not getting any bite or feel from the pedal. Of course, it’s such an important tool that gives the driver so much feedback. On top of that, your entries end up compromised, so you don’t end up taking too much speed in. It creates its own issues, so we need to get to the bottom of that pretty quickly.”
Sorting out the RB21 balance problem
With F1 arriving in Jeddah in less than a week, time is not on Red Bull’s side. Horner explained how when it comes to sorting out this balance problem: “Ultimately, you can mask it a little through set-up.”
This is something the team was able to achieve in Suzuka to claim their first win of 2025. However, Horner admitted that Bahrain had shown that issues run deeper than initially thought, with Yuki Tsunoda outlining how tough the car is to master.
“This race has exposed some pitfalls that are obviously very clear that we need to get on top of very quickly. I think we understand where the issues are. It’s introducing the solutions that obviously take a little more time.”
“We need to make progress very quickly”
Horner inevitably has the challenge of keeping his drivers happy – particularly his 4-time F1 Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen. The Dutchman spoke on Saturday in the Dutch media session as to how he is just taking part in the championship this year and not fighting for it. Unsurprisingly, his team principal has a different mindset.
“It was a bad weekend for the team. Nothing went our way from the start of the race. We didn’t get off the line cleanly. Pit stops didn’t work well for us today. The tyre deg temperatures got very high. Which certainly the tyre deg, if you’ve got a well-balanced car, the whole thing just comes together that much easier.
“It’s a 24-race championship. We’re eight points behind in the Drivers’ Championship. We know we need to make progress very quickly. It was important today to score the most points. He [Verstappen] fought for every point that he could in a difficult car today. It’s how they add up at the end of the year that’s important.”
The challenge is being able to implement the solution
The 51-year-old team principal did say that his team does understand what the problem is but the challenge is being able to implement the solution.
“It’s the entry phase to the mid-corner that needs addressing. Giving him the ability and grip and confidence that it takes to carry speed into entry of the corners. That’s fundamentally an aero issue that we need to be able to give him that grip.”
The track in Jeddah is one of the youngest on the Formula 1 racing calendar, but it is one of the fastest circuits on the calendar. On the almost 2.5 km long main straight, the drivers often reach speeds over 320 km/h.
It cannot be expected for Max Verstappen, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda or any driver to push their car to the limit if they do not have confidence in the car underneath them.
If Max Verstappen is to have a realistic chance at this year’s Championship, Red Bull have to fix this problem as a matter of urgency. Otherwise, as the circuits become even faster there is more likelihood of the lap time becoming even slower.
