Red Bull did something Ted Kravitz had not ‘seen before’ at the Bahrain Grand Prix to fix 2025 woes

Red Bull could not repeat their success at Suzuka at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The team struggled desperately for performance all weekend.

Max Verstappen went into the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend on a high after claiming his first win of the season in Japan. However, the Dutchman found himself struggling with his RB21 again in the desert as he could only manage seventh in qualifying.

Yuki Tsunoda reached Q3, which marked one positive for Red Bull as the second car had failed to reach the top 10 up to that point. But the Japanese driver and Verstappen were noticeably behind their rivals as Oscar Piastri dominated in Bahrain to claim his second win of 2025.

Tsunoda came home to score points for the first time as a Red Bull driver, while Verstappen passed Pierre Gasly on the line for P6. The defending four-time champion finished over half a minute behind Piastri.

The Milton Keynes outfit had a lack of pace in Bahrain, plus a faulty traffic light system cost them valuable seconds in the pit stops. Red Bull had an ‘intensive meeting’ after the race following a disastrous weekend at Sakhir.

It is clear the team have significant work to do on the RB21. Ted Kravitz noticed Red Bull doing something he had not ‘seen before’ to try and fix their problems.

Red Bull ran Ayumu Iwasa in FP1 with aero rakes to the rear of the RB21 – Ted Kravitz hadn’t seen it before

Red Bull have been having issues with simulations, with their data not translating to performance on the track. Christian Horner doubled down on Helmut Marko’s concerns about the wind tunnel, with their findings not correlating during the races.

Red Bull ran Ayumu Iwasa in FP1 in Bahrain, replacing Verstappen. Speaking on The F1 Show, Kravitz noticed the Japanese driver had aero rakes on the rear of his car, suggesting there is also a problem for the team they are trying to address.

“I wonder if it’s something at the rear as well. Because Ayumu Iwasa on Friday, free practice 1 in Verstappen’s car, the car was festooned with aero rakes.

“But in very specific areas that I haven’t seen before. Like off the rear wheels and there was one kid of midway in the engine cover.

“All to the rear, these aero rakes, you could easily miss them because they were small and thin. But Iwasa was doing a lot of the correlation stuff and the aero measuring in Bahrain. So yeah, that might point to what it is.”

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Red Bull must act fast to fix their issues as Max Verstappen’s future is shrouded in uncertainty

After four races in 2025, Red Bull are already 80 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship. They risk falling further behind if they cannot address the issues with the RB21.

Marko has set a deadline for upgrades for the Emilia-Romagna GP, or it may be too late for Red Bull to catch McLaren. The Milton Keynes squad simply have to find solutions, or they will risk losing their star driver.

Verstappen is being heavily linked with an exit from Red Bull ahead of the 2026 season, when F1’s new technical regulations are set to come into effect. Aston Martin and Mercedes are interested in the Dutchman’s services.

Aston Martin are preparing a five-year deal for Verstappen as they look to bring him on board their project with Adrian Newey and Honda. However, they face competition as Mercedes may not hesitate to drop George Russell to sign the four-time champion.