The first Grand Prix of the F1 2025 season has come and gone, and after months of speculation, some of our early questions about the pecking order have been answered – and it appears that McLaren have arrived with a very strong package.

But with a pecking order established, the teams on the back foot can start working to counteract McLaren’s strengths. In fact, Helmut Marko already believes he knows where Red Bull are lacking in comparison.

Red Bull identify tyre issues as key issue in McLaren fight

For the first time in years, Red Bull Racing is no longer the class of the field in Formula 1’s season opener.

Polesitter Lando Norris maintained a decisive lead of the Australian Grand Prix in his McLaren MCL39, demonstrating a self-assurance that seemed hard to come by in 2024 as he held off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — one of the strongest drivers in wet conditions.

But not even the weather could give Verstappen an advantage in the battle for the win. He launched into a characteristically strong start in Australia, but it wasn’t enough to usurp the McLaren front row on the way to the first corner.

The Dutch champion stuck with the lead drivers during the initial stage of the race, with the three frontrunners gapping the rest of the field. Then Verstappen’s tires experienced a sharp fall-off, and his pace dropped dramatically until additional safety cars helped bring him back into the fight.

His next best chance to challenge for the lead came in the closing laps of the race, but even then, the RB21 was no match for the McLaren.

Dig deeper into Red Bull during the F1 2025 season:

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That being said, it isn’t ‘game over’ for Red Bull Racing. In fact, the start of the season has provided the team with plenty of data to analyze — and Helmut Marko already believes the team already knows where the Milton Keynes outfit is lagging.

“We can match them for six-eight laps, but then our tyre degradation comes earlier, and that’s the main problem we have to work on,” the Red Bull advisor explained to ViaPlay.

“But through the conditions and changing safety car and so on, Max was there, and I think in the last six laps he was the faster guy, but of course there was just one dry line and overtaking was not possible, so what he tried is to push Lando into a mistake.

“Didn’t do so, but I think it’s a very good result for us and it will be a tough season.”

In 2024, pushing Norris into a mistake may have been a much easier prospect, but as the 2025 season kicks off in anger, the Briton looks a tougher nut to crack than in the past.

Despite changeable conditions, several restarts, and a protracted debate about strategy with his race engineer, Norris kept a cool head and rose to the challenge — and while Red Bull’s tyre degradation can be improved, it may be much harder for the team to shake Norris’ confidence.

Read next: Marko identifies recurring Red Bull ‘problem’ despite ‘ideal’ Max Verstappen position