Runner-up to Oscar Piastri in Saudi Arabia, Helmut Marko says “various factors” played a part in Max Verstappen’s performance with the standout being the set-up of the RB21.

Red Bull have had an uncertain start to the F1 2025 season and Verstappen’s title defence, the RB21 second to McLaren’s MCL39 on the track.

‘Various factors’ behind Red Bull’s Saudi gains

It has meant that while Verstappen has three podium results to his name, including a victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, Red Bull have acknowledged the car’s weaknesses.

“Our car is simply not balanced,” Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko told Sky Deutschland after Verstappen’s P6 in Bahrain where he was 34 seconds behind race winner Oscar Piastri. “We don’t know where exactly the worm is. I guess it’s mainly the aerodynamics.”

The team has also suffered, as Marko put it, “Black Fridays”, the Austrian adding: “Our Friday practice sessions are far away from good and evil. We’re struggling to get the car halfway right for qualifying.

“If you have more organised practice, then you could find out on Friday, for example. We have to change a lot.”

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The Milton Keynes squad did just that a week later in Saudi Arabia, where they not only put a “significantly” different car into battle, they also concentrated on maximising the Friday practices, which included a genuine qualifying simulation.

“I think that was the best Friday for quite a big while,” Red Bull’s Helmut Marko declared to media, including PlanetF1.com. “We made different set-ups and, for the qualifying lap, it’s working. We are much closer to the McLarens.”

Verstappen went on to secure pole position on the Saturday, out-pacing Piastri by one-hundredth of a second, before racing his way to second in the Grand Prix having incurred a five-second time penalty for gaining a lasting advantage off the track in his Turn 1 battle with the McLaren driver.

“The positive is,” Marko said after the race, “we had the pace, tyre wear was under control. But once again, you could see just how difficult overtaking is. After the penalty, we focused on securing P2.”

But while that’s the simple explanation of Verstappen’s race at the Jeddah Corniche circuit, Marko says there were several factors that played a role in the Dutchman’s third podium of the season.

Not only were Red Bull able to find the right set-up for the RB21, a car that notably has a small optimum window, but they also maximised Friday and the qualifying simulation, got the Pirelli tyres working and the track suited the characteristics of the car.

It was, penalty excluded, a big step in the right direction.

“The marked improvement compared to Bahrain is due to various factors,” the 81-year-old told Speedweek.

“We have moved in the right direction in terms of set-up, and that has shown once again – finding the right set-up is difficult with our car, but if we hit the best window of effectiveness, then the car is absolutely competitive.

“If it doesn’t work out, like in Bahrain, then we’ll be hovering around sixth place.

“The improvement also had to do with the track characteristics. In Bahrain, we mainly find medium-fast corners and a very rough surface. Jeddah is completely different – very fast, flowing corners and an asphalt that hardly causes any tyre wear.

“It was noticeable that there were hardly any complaints from the drivers about the tyres in the race either, the drivers were largely able to drive at full speed.

“After the Bahrain GP, we said that Red Bull Racing also needed to rethink its approach during practice. This has already been implemented in Jeddah, for example by making qualifying simulations more realistic and therefore giving us a better indication of where we stand.”

Verstappen, though, was a bit more cautious in his assessment of the weekend.

Having proclaimed just days prior that he is “just taking part in this World Championship” after a disappointing P6 result in Bahrain, he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, that Red Bull still had a lot of work to do on the RB21.

“It’s still not where I wanted it to be,” Verstappen said on the Friday. “Personally I don’t really look at the gap [on the timesheet]. I think in the end of the day, you have to just go from your own feeling and what you feel in the car over one lap.

“It’s a bit better, but then the long runs, they were very tough still for us.”

Finishing runner-up to Piastri on the Sunday, he was a bit more positive about the RB21’s gains, although pointed out that it could be track-related.

“I think we need to find more overall performance, balance especially, and of course consistency. We are not good at every track. That’s quite clear.

“Bahrain, we were lacking a lot. Here, for sure, it was a lot better. But it’s also very low deg and then more cars come alive. So we still have work to do, but at least it’s a promising result.

“Overall, it’s been a promising weekend, at the end of the day. We really managed to find a good balance or a decent balance, and that’s, of course, positive for us.”

Marko believes if Red Bull can continue on this path, they should be able to beat McLaren in two races’ time, Imola.

“We will have small steps, and I think by Imola we should be in a position that we also have the speed to beat the McLarens,” he declared.

Verstappen sits third in the Drivers’ Championship after five race weekends, 12 points behind championship leader Piastri and two behind Lando Norris.

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