Red Bull faces a challenging start to the 2025 season as they now no longer appear to have the fastest car on the Formula 1 grid.
McLaren now appears to be the benchmark team after Lando Norris set the pace in pre-season testing, with Red Bull having a difficult three days with their drivers.
The team did not complete a race run like their rival teams, with Verstappen also deliberately destroying a set of tyres after spinning when he was attempting to perform a qualifying simulation.
The RB21 is an evolution of the RB20 and takes a lot of handling traits, although Red Bull has reportedly not fixed the problems Verstappen highlighted that made the end of their 2024 season tough.
You would expect moral within Red Bull to be low given they head into the Australian Grand Prix no longer as the team with the fastest car, however, Helmut Marko thinks that is not the case when speaking on Servus TV.
Helmut Marko believes atmosphere within Red Bull has improved since Sergio Perez left
Red Bull slipped back to third in the Constructors’ Championship at the end of 2024, largely owing to the performances of Sergio Perez. The Mexican failed to score points in four of the last five races, with the final two with Red Bull ending in DNFs.
Drive to Survive microphones picked up how Christian Horner reacted to Perez crashing out of qualifying for the British GP, just weeks before Red Bull was due to make a decision on his future.
Marko believes the change in driver lineup has helped make the atmosphere more optimistic, ahead of what Red Bull thinks will be their hardest season since the 2021 title battle with Mercedes.
“In the first world championship with Sergio Perez we celebrated great successes, but last season didn’t go so well. There’s a completely different atmosphere now with a new race engineer, and there is completely different feedback during tests, the statements about what the car is doing,” said Marko.
“You can feel a real wave of enthusiasm which has gone through the other side of the garage. He’s [Lawson] young, full of optimism, and as Christian said he has to find his way now and not think how to beat Max because that was the mistake all those who unfortunately failed made.”
Red Bull wanted Oscar Piastri before he signed McLaren mega-deal
The question over who Red Bull would use to replace Perez dragged on for months once it became clear there was no alternative to the Mexican.
Lawson was not the immediate alternative, given the experience of Yuki Tsunoda, but the Marko and Horner snubbed the Japanese driver as they felt he could no go up against Max Verstappen.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
Oscar Piastri was seen as a potential option in the short term by Red Bull according to reports, given the Australian was due to be out of contract at the end of the 2026 season. Marko admires Piastri and would have been keen to give him an opportunity in their cars.
Piastri has now signed a contract to stay with McLaren until 2030, in a deal that is reportedly worth the same as teammate Lando Norris.
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