Red Bull now banking on two ‘game-changing’ moves to give Max Verstappen advantage over McLaren in 2025

Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen once again demonstrated why he’s a four-time Formula 1 world champion at Suzuka.

For the fourth successive Japanese Grand Prix, it was Max Verstappen who stood on the top step of the podium.

The Red Bull star pulled off one of the best qualifying laps of his career to just pip McLaren stars Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Both McLaren drivers were hot on Verstappen’s tail throughout the race, although it could be argued that Andrea Stella’s team didn’t take full advantage of having two drivers so close to the Dutchman in the race.

His new teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was nowhere to be seen as team principal Christian Horner continues to wait for Red Bull’s second driver to score their first point of the campaign.

Suzuka always brings the best energy 🙌#F1 || #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/BbUv2ycdtB

— Oracle Red Bull Racing | オラクル・レッドブルレーシング (@redbullracing) April 6, 2025

The constructors’ championship, one of the key reasons cited by Red Bull when they made the rash decision to bring in Tsunoda to replace Liam Lawson, is quickly slipping away from the team.

However, Verstappen put in another astounding performance in Japan, and is proving how relentless he is in his search for a fifth consecutive championship.

He sits just a point behind Norris now, and Red Bull are confident that things are only going to get better for the 27-year-old this season.

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Red Bull confident that updates and wing rule changes will benefit Max Verstappen

A report from De Telegraaf after Verstappen’s victory at Suzuka provided more reasons for Red Bull fans to get excited about their chances this season.

The story suggests that ‘within Red Bull’ the team are now ‘pinning their hopes’ on their upcoming update packages to help them make a step forward.

Although the report isn’t specific about what those updates are, it would be a surprise if they don’t try and address the balance issues that all three drivers have complained about.

Lawson highlighted the balance issues during his final radio messages as a Red Bull driver, while Verstappen has asked the team to increase the operating window of the RB21.

Alongside their own updates, Red Bull also believe that the increased scrutiny on the flexibility of every team’s front wings starting at the Spanish Grand Prix is going to hamper McLaren.

Horner was talking to Channel 4 after the race and admitted: “Don’t underestimate the regulation changes at race nine with these front wings, that could be a game changer, and the first four [teams] are super tight.

“As you well know, there’s no better tonic than a win and that motivation will be felt in Milton Keynes with this result.”

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McLaren’s main strength was ‘negated’ at the Japanese Grand Prix after Max Verstappen’s victory

It doesn’t appear as though McLaren are taking anything for granted this season despite having the fastest car on the grid.

However, Verstappen is proving that he’ll punish even the smallest mistakes that both drivers make, with Norris and Piastri both slipping up in qualifying.

McLaren’s tyre management was negated by the lack of tyre wear in Japan, meaning Verstappen could push as hard as he liked throughout the race.

It proved to be an incredibly difficult circuit to overtake on, and Verstappen managed the gap to Norris perfectly throughout.

If McLaren are going to be negatively impacted by the front wing flexibility changes, then they need to build up the biggest lead possible over the rest of the field over the next five races.

By not backing Norris or Piastri as their number one driver, Verstappen is likely to have a much smaller deficit to make up once the rules change.