The top four teams are set to produce a tense title battle in the 2025 F1 season. But heading into the Australian Grand Prix, things are not looking too smooth at Red Bull.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit fell to third in the constructors’ championship in 2024 after they suffered issues with the RB20’s performances. However, Max Verstappen never lost the advantage he built in the first 10 races – where he claimed seven wins.
Lando Norris boasted stronger machinery at McLaren in the second half of the season but scored around the same points as the Dutchman. Verstappen beat the Brit by 63 points, but that gap is back down to zero going into the Australian Grand Prix,
After pre-season testing in Bahrain, McLaren are the clear favourites, with Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull behind. The order of these three heading into Melbourne seems to be interchangeable.
But Verstappen sees McLaren as the only title contenders. The four-time defending champion ‘expected more’ from his RB21 in testing as the team completed the least amount of laps in Bahrain.
Besides his victories in Sao Paulo and Qatar, the Dutchman often did not have the car to compete for race wins in the second half of 2024. Ahead of the 2025 season opener, the feeling is not confident around Red Bull.
‘Even those most optimistic’ at Red Bull do not expect Max Verstappen to win the Australian Grand Prix
Speaking on The Race F1 Podcast, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm says ‘even those most optimistic’ at Red Bull are not expecting victory in Melbourne.
He says that the ‘best-case scenario’ for the team is to have the machine Verstappen had in the final quarter of 2024 where he could compete for podiums and race wins/ But Mitchell-Malm stressed that would also be a ‘surprise’ for Red Bull.
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“Those sort of flashes you saw from Red Bull in the final quarter of last season where, Verstappen’s just got something he can fight with on a more regular basis in qualifying and then he has track position in the race,” he said.
“So even if he’s on a little bit more of a rear-guard action over a stint, he’s doing it while having track position and the like.
“So, Verstappen only needs a sniff of that to be fighting for podiums and wins, race in, race out. That is where I think is the best-case scenario for Red Bull.
“I mean, if they come out in Australia and the first few races and Verstappen is on pole at more events than not and winning races at arm’s length or anything like that,
“I think that 1), [would] be a huge achievement given where they were at the end of last year, but it would also be a surprise.
“I don’t think anybody is going to Melbourne, even those most optimistic within Red Bull, thinking that they should be winning that season-opener.”
Max Verstappen thinks Helmut Marko is underplaying the gap between Red Bull and McLaren
The four-time champion is discontent with his machinery at present. Verstappen keeps ‘hammering’ Red Bull in meetings over persistent issues with kerbs and bumps.
The Milton Keynes outfit will have to address their issues promptly if they want to fight with McLaren at the front. Their Woking-based rivals appear to have a clear advantage over the rest of the field.
Helmut Marko believes McLaren are two tenths ahead of Red Bull heading into Melbourne. However, not everyone is on the same boat as the Austrian – including his star driver.
Verstappen believes the gap to McLaren is larger than what Marko is making out. The 27-year-old has not seen any ‘noticeable progress’ from Red Bull’s updated floor or front wing.
