Following a return to the podium in Melbourne, Max Verstappen has addressed the progress that Red Bull have made with the RB21 and the advantage that McLaren hold over the rest of the grid heading into the F1 Chinese GP.
Despite not being completely satisfied with the performance of the RB21 in pre-season testing, the Milton Keynes outfit appeared to have taken a step forward in both qualifying and race trim at the Australian GP.
After qualifying in third place right behind the rapid McLarens on Saturday, Verstappen showcased an impressive performance in the changeable conditions to take the chequered flag less than a second behind the winner, Lando Norris.
Verstappen impressed by McLaren’s progress
When asked in his print media session ahead of the Chinese GP whether McLaren’s current advantage is bigger than Red Bull’s ever was, the reigning Drivers’ Champion gave a tactful answer stating that it’s impossible to arrive at a conclusion without having driven the car.
“You know, I always struggle to really answer that correctly because it’s impossible to say, right? Unless you have driven that car yourself.”
With regard to what he makes of the Woking-based team, Verstappen responded that he holds McLaren in high esteem given their meteoric rise to the front of the grid last season and the momentum they have managed to carry over to 2025.
“They’re super strong.
“I have a lot of respect for what they’ve done already last year and now. They’re very fast, very all-round, good everywhere. I think that is just a fact.
“Now, how big the gap is or whatever, it’s difficult to say.”
McLaren far ahead; the rest of the top four close in performance
In terms of whether he was positively surprised to finish ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Ferraris in Melbourne, the Dutchman claimed that they were all in close proximity in respect of performance and that he expects the pecking order to change depending on the track.
Nonetheless, Verstappen also proclaimed that McLaren have quite an edge over Red Bull and the rest of the grid as he prepares for the F1 Chinese GP, the first Sprint race weekend of the year.
“Yeah, it’s impossible to really answer fully.
“I think myself, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari were all quite close. It probably will differ a bit track to track.
“I think the clear picture that you saw was that McLaren was quite far ahead.
“Because I don’t think I’m an idiot in the wet. In the first stint, I didn’t really have a lot of chance to fight.”
When asked whether he considered his second-place finish—only 0.895s behind Norris—a missed opportunity, the 27-year-old dismissed the premise entirely and stated that they had overachieved last Sunday. Commending the pit wall’s decisions in the unfavourable weather conditions, Verstappen added that the RB21 simply didn’t have the pace to overcome the McLaren of Norris.
“I think I did better. I couldn’t have done more. Myself and also the team. We finished one place ahead of what we should’ve finished.
“I guess from that side, it was very positive. There were no regrets or something that was badly judged. We did a good race, but we were not quick enough to win.”
Verstappen unsure when they will catch up with McLaren despite Marko’s ambitious timeline
After the race in Melbourne last week, veteran Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko had asserted that tyre degradation is the primary factor holding them back in comparison to McLaren and that they have upgrades in the pipeline to overcome that deficit in three to five races.
In terms of whether Marko’s timeline is too optimistic, Verstappen responded ahead of the F1 Chinese GP that he is unable to predict the number of races it would take Red Bull to resolve their issues.
“Yeah, I prefer not to say how many races it takes, because it’s impossible to know.
“I mean, the others are also not standing still, you know. We just need to focus on ourselves.”
With regard to how confident he is about the foundation of the car and whether there are any inherent flaws they have to rectify before focusing on performance, the 27-year-old noted that the RB21 behaves better than its tricky predecessor on track. At the same time, he added that the team is exploring different avenues to extract the missing lap time.
“It [RB21] definitely drives a bit different to last year, in a positive way.
“Now, it just depends if we can actually find more performance, you know, or can we actually really bolt on a lot more lap time, what we currently are missing.”
Red Bull need to develop a more versatile car like the MCL39
On the matter of their overlays with McLaren and whether they were lacking in downforce or unable to perfect the balance, Verstappen highlighted the overheating of the tyres in the final sector as the primary issue that hindered the majority of the teams in Melbourne.
“My balance in qualifying in Melbourne was not too bad. I don’t think balance is the main issue.
“I ran out of tyres in the last sector, like overheating, and I think a lot of teams were struggling with that. But it just seemed like McLaren, it wasn’t as much.”
Noting that the RB21 performed relatively well in the high-speed corners of the Albert Park Circuit, Verstappen commented that Red Bull have to improve their efficiency in all sectors of the track if they hope to challenge the versatile McLaren at the F1 Chinese GP.
“I think overall, we know that on bumps and kerbs, we’re not very, very good.
“Now, Melbourne is not the bumpiest track, but still a few bumps in some areas, and that is definitely something that I picked up on. The rest of the corners, I think in the very high speed we were not too bad, with our wing that we ran also in Melbourne.
“Then again, it just depends so much on how you set up the car. Sometimes you can be a bit better in high speed, sometimes a bit better in medium speed, or whatever.
“But I think in general, we just need to be better as a whole, if you compare that to McLaren, they’re good everywhere.”
Correlation and drivability are important to improve performance
Red Bull Technical Director Pierre Waché has previously stated that teams seek to strike a fine balance between drivability and performance. He also explained how they were unable to always extract the most from the quick RB20 given its unpredictable behaviour on track.
In terms of whether their current single-seater being more predictable than the RB20 comes at the expense of peak performance, the Dutchman touched on the severe correlation issues that Mercedes had faced in 2022 and remarked that it depends on the car they need, the data from the wind tunnel, and if they can realistically generate those numbers on track.
“It just depends on what’s right. On-track numbers and the wind tunnel.
“I think if you look back at 2022, Mercedes probably had 100 points more than anything else, if you look at the wind tunnel results.
“Sometimes that doesn’t really work out like that, and you just need to analyse and understand what you actually need.
“You need a drivable car, a balanced car, and then from there you can hopefully improve overall performance.”
Although Verstappen acknowledged that the RB21 is somewhat balanced, he added that Red Bull have to fine-tune the set-ups to improve the overall performance of the car at the F1 Chinese GP.
“It is balanced to a certain extent, but I don’t think it’s there yet.”
