Max Verstappen will bid to win a fifth F1 drivers’ title in as many seasons in 2025, yet Red Bull have seemingly ignored his complaints about a key issue with their new car.
The Dutchman has dominated the pinnacle of motorsport in recent terms to join Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel with four titles. But Verstappen saw his advantage over the F1 grid fade in 2024 as McLaren and Ferrari jumped Red Bull, and Mercedes occasionally joined the fight.
McLaren winning their first F1 constructors’ championship since 1998 last year has also even made Norris the favourite to win the 2025 drivers’ title. The 25-year-old was 63 points short as Red Bull’s early lead and Verstappen’s consistency saw the 27-year-old lift the 2024 title.
Red Bull ignore Max Verstappen’s stability issues with their 2025 F1 car
Norris may have an edge on Verstappen heading into the 2025 Formula 1 season, as well, as the Australian Grand Prix on March 16 draws nearer. That is because Autosprint reports that ‘leaks’ from Red Bull suggest the Milton Keynes team have ignored Verstappen’s complaints.
Verstappen frequently criticised the balance of Red Bull’s 2024 car, the RB20. Yet they have opted to follow the same path with the design of the RB21 after Red Bull’s design team led by technical director Pierre Wache weighed up the pros and cons of making large changes.
READ MORE: The five worst moments of Max Verstappen’s career in Formula 1
Red Bull believe that compromising the potential performance of the RB21 to improve their 2025 F1 car’s overall stability would have resulted in a net loss. So, Wache and his team put the focus on delivering a higher peak performance that track-specific set-ups might extract.
Max Verstappen realised Red Bull’s stability problems early in 2024
Verstappen might feel aggrieved that Red Bull have seemingly ignored his complaints about the stability of their car when creating the team’s 2025 challenger. The Milton Keynes crew have again put the onus on the Dutchman to overcome the problems with his driving ability.
Verstappen also felt Red Bull’s balance problems were there from the start of 2024 but their rivals could not initially capitalise on it. Yet as soon as McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes began to make progress with their upgrades last season, Red Bull’s problems came home to roost.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen’s biggest penalties in Formula 1
He explained to Motorsport.com: “Early on I realised that the feeling was very different from last year’s car in terms of balance. At that time our car was still a lot quicker than the others, or maybe I should say that the others were not so good back then.
“So, at that stage, we could still compensate for our difficulties. In the races after that, it got worse and worse. At one point our car was just very difficult to drive and, at the same time, the others made real progress.”
Pierre Wache admitted Red Bull had a ‘fundamental’ problem with their 2024 car
Even Wache admitted that the 2024 Italian Grand Prix gave Red Bull a ‘wake-up’ call as their troubles at Monza proved the RB20’s insufficient downforce was a ‘fundamental problem’. It was such an issue at Monza that Verstappen dubbed Red Bull’s car an ‘undriveable monster’.
Red Bull effectively hit reset from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with their design path, but it did not immediately remove the Dutchman’s frustration. Verstappen upset Red Bull’s mechanics in Azerbaijan by criticising their car, and had to moderate his comments to limit the damage.
Still, Wache and his team felt Red Bull should not focus on fixing the stability problems so as not to limit the RB21’s performance by giving Verstappen a more balanced car in 2025. They will now hope it does not deny the 63-time Grand Prix winner a chance to seal a fifth crown.
Leave feedback about this