The dominant force since the start of F1’s ground-effect era, Red Bull, have found themself playing catch-up to McLaren, who now boast the fastest car on the grid. After half a season plagued by balance issues, simulation miscorrelation, and an overly sensitive aerodynamic package, Max Verstappen shed light on the team’s ongoing development struggles of their 2025 challenger in the run-up to the Japanese GP weekend.
While Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive title last year, McLaren’s rise has left Red Bull scrambling to regain lost ground. Asked in his print media session whether the team had addressed his concerns about last year’s car or opted to follow their own development path, Verstappen responded:
“No, we are always actively discussing. But some issues are easier to solve than others, and some are more difficult. Everyone is trying their hardest and their very best to make the car faster at the end of the day.”
There were concerns last season that Red Bull underestimated the severity of their situation, but Verstappen dismissed this notion as of right now.
“No, I think from the last half of the season, I think everyone was well aware of where we had to look.”
When probed whether Red Bull’s struggles stem from a single issue, like downforce or instability, Verstappen made it clear that the problem is far more complex and varies from track to track.
“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. And it depends also on the corner speed, the tarmac, tyres overheating, bumps, [and] kerbs. There’s a lot of different things and [on] some tracks, some bits are more limiting than others,” he added, “It depends a lot on the track layout as well.”
Red Bull and their second seat conundrum
Since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure, Red Bull have struggled to find a stable teammate for Verstappen, leading to speculation that the second seat is a career killer. Sergio Pérez’s departure after a winless 2024 season led to a brief stint for Liam Lawson, who was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda ahead of the Japanese GP.
The Dutchman was asked what makes the Red Bull car particularly challenging for others to handle.
He replied: “Yeah, it’s hard because, for me, this is the only car that I know, right? But I think from what I see out there, it is a little bit more nervous, a little bit more, I would say, unstable in different corner phases maybe [than] what maybe some other teammates have been used to before. Now, some bits of good are faster, you know, some bits of course clearly are faster than where they came from. But to just piece it all together probably is a bit harder.”
When questioned if Red Bull’s focus on maximising downforce has come at the cost of driveability, Verstappen clarified that this was not the case in 2025.
The four-time champion said: “I don’t think so this year, to be honest. That’s not what we try to focus on. I think we are focussing on making the car more drivable. I don’t think of course we are there yet, but we are working on it.
“And again, last week we had good meetings in the factory with everyone involved to try and address the things that we want to address in the car and find more balance and of course at the end more pace in the car.”
Can Red Bull catch up to McLaren?
McLaren’s resurgence has put them in prime position to fight for the championship, with Lando Norris taking the season-opening win and leading Verstappen by eight points in the standings. Red Bull, however, remains committed to extracting more performance from the RB20.
When asked about the team’s development plan, Verstappen acknowledged the challenge ahead.
“Well, we’re trying to have the performance, of course, coming this year still. If it’s going to be enough to beat McLaren? Very difficult to say. Because the others are also improving, trying to find performance. So it’s not going to be that straightforward, but I know that everyone is trying their very best to find more performance.”
As the F1 circus heads to Suzuka, McLaren appears to be the outright favourite, given their strong performances there in recent years. With Red Bull adjusting to a new driver pairing this weekend, it’ll be exciting to see how they fare against McLaren and whether they can extend their Suzuka winning streak.
