Max Verstappen is of the opinion that McLaren have a significant edge over Red Bull heading into the Australian GP, the first race of the 2025 F1 season.
The Milton Keynes team has understandably tempered its expectations after pre-season testing did not produce the results they had anticipated. With unusual weather conditions in Bahrain limiting testing time and the RB21 refusing to respond to their input at times, Red Bull expect to find themselves behind McLaren in the initial pecking order.
Attending the Red Bull Fan Zone ahead of the season opener in Melbourne, reigning Drivers’ World Champion Verstappen shared his thoughts on the outcome of pre-season testing and the approach he intends to maintain as they head into a new season without the outright fastest car. Moreover, he also addressed the weather forecast this weekend and revealed which team he expects to emerge victorious at the Albert Park Circuit.
Red Bull underwhelmed by Bahrain testing results and no longer have the fastest car
With regard to the programme they ran during the three-day pre-season testing, Max Verstappen confessed that the outcome wasn’t satisfactory and that Red Bull no longer boast the fastest car heading into the Australian GP for the first race of the season.
“Of course, I always try to do the best I can. But, if you look at the Bahrain testing, I think, personally, we expected a little bit more from it as well.
“And, yeah, if you look around, we were definitely not the quickest if you put everything in perspective.
Following McLaren’s resurgence in 2024 from Miami onwards, Red Bull failed to defend their constructors’ crown after their dominant 2023 campaign and finished the season in third place with arguably the second fastest car on average.
Although he insisted on maintaining an optimistic approach, Verstappen referred to the massive progress McLaren have made and added that they need to make some performance gains in order to challenge for a win.
“I think it’s always important to be positive, but I do think that we still need to find a bit of lap time to fight for a win.
“Also, if you look at last year, from the middle of the season to the end, we were definitely not the quickest team anymore. So, we definitely still have quite a bit of work to do to get back to that.
“On the other hand, it’s exciting. We want to win every single race, but that’s not possible. But, yeah, we’ll see how it goes this weekend.”
Rain could shake up the grid in Melbourne
Having stood on the top step of the podium at the Australian GP only once so far, Verstappen commended the atmosphere and the quality of the races despite the multiple retirements he has suffered at the Albert Park Circuit.
With the forecast showing a high risk of rain on Sunday, the Dutchman remarked that the weather could shake things up across the grid and deliver some dramatic results.
“Yeah, I’ve actually had quite a lot of bad luck around here. A lot of mechanical things.
“I won once; that was great. I mean, of course, it’s amazing to be at the podium here. It’s a great crowd and a fun race in general.
“It looks like there’s also a bit of weather around. So, a bit of rain, I think, is quite exciting.”
Not expecting miracles with McLaren in front
In terms of McLaren potentially leading the pack by a significant margin, Verstappen referred to their own dominant run in 2023 and labelled it as a natural part of competition.
Although he doesn’t expect any miraculous interventions pushing them towards victory, the four-time World Champion commented that he is hopeful about Red Bull having taken a step forward in performance since the end of pre-season testing.
Meanwhile, Verstappen also declared that he is rather confident about McLaren having an edge over Red Bull and the rest of the F1 grid as all twenty cars hit the track at the Australian GP this weekend.
“Yeah, I mean, we did it also in our season [2023], but we were very, very quick, right? So, it’s just a natural thing to do.
“Of course, I hope that, let’s say, this weekend we’re a little bit more competitive than what we were in Bahrain. But I don’t expect any miracles.
“And I’m fairly sure that you will see the orange cars fighting out front. At least, it’s a good colour. I can take that.”
