Red Bull faced their first defeat of the 2025 season, after Lando Norris won the Australian Grand Prix from Max Verstappen.
The Briton produced an impressive race having come back from a mistake in the final 20 laps, when he went off track on slick tyres as the rain hit Albert Park.
Verstappen used the opportunity to lead the race for a lap, but the conditions proved to be too challenging on dry tyres as the rain intensified.
Red Bull was effectively gifted a second place when Oscar Piastri also went off track at the same time as Norris, while Verstappen was able to pile pressure on Norris in the closing laps due to floor damage the McLaren picked up after going off-track.
Verstappen was no match for the McLaren’s on the Intermediates or slick tyres in the race, having also lost out to them in the pole shootout on Saturday. Helmut Marko has offered a timeline on when he thinks they will be able to challenge McLaren on merit when speaking on Servus TV.
Helmut Marko expects Red Bull to challenge McLaren in five races
Red Bull was clearly off the pace compared to McLaren all weekend. Even in the dry conditions, Norris was half a second faster than Verstappen.
McLaren was expected to blitz the field after a strong showing at pre-season testing, and although Red Bull made inroads overnight in Australia to improve their performance, Verstappen was no match for Norris or Piastri.
In the opening stint of the race, Verstappen cooked through his Intermediate tyres while in second place which led to an unforced error and conceding position to Piastri. It was a symptom of what Red Bull is having to deal with and something Marko expects to be corrected at the upcoming races.
“We know them (the car issues), and we are working hard. In three to five races we should, hope, that we can cure it, and we have the car on the same level as McLaren,” said Marko.
Max Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship record comes to an end
The opening round of the 2025 season marks the first time that Verstappen has not led the Drivers’ Championship since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix.
The race, which was held in May 2022, was the first time in 10,29 days since someone other than Verstappen was at the top of the table.
The previous streak was set by Michael Schumacher at 896 days, spanning across the 2000 US Grand Prix and the 2003 Australian Grand Prix.
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