Red Bull faced some formidable opposition in 2024 and it ended up costing them one of their two championships.
Both McLaren and Ferrari delivered to a higher standard and finished above them in the Constructors’ Championship after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen has an edge over Ayrton Senna now according to one of the Brazilian great’s ex-teammates, Gerhard Berger.
That shows just how spectacular the Dutchman has been, and why teammates like Sergio Perez have struggled so much in comparison.
The Mexican wasn’t helped by Red Bull’s seemingly slow rate of development last season, with even Verstappen tailing off as the campaign progressed.
Overall they should’ve won both titles though, and their task gets even harder in 2025 with their rivals expected to start with faster cars than them for the first time since the previous technical regulations.
Red Bull have a ‘feeling’ that F1 ‘grey areas’ cost them in 2024
Red Bull should have optimism for 2025 after winning 12.5% more races than any other constructor last season.
It proves that when the Austrian outfit gets going, they are tricky to stop. Liam Lawson will only add to their team this year too.
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Speaking on a 2025 Formula 1 preview podcast by The Race, Scott Mitchell-Malm mentioned that Red Bull felt a bit hard done by some of the grey areas explored by their rivals last season.
“Red Bull is no longer going to have the target on its back that it had due to its early dominance in this ruleset,” he said.
“It’s definitely, definitely a feeling within that team that it became a very convenient development for Formula 1 if Red Bull could be pegged back some way and others could be given licences to make gains in the grey areas that Red Bull didn’t consider to be so grey.
“You look back through the year when talking about McLaren. Jon mentioned the step they made in Miami there with their upgrade. Red Bull were convinced that the performance swing through the season could not be explained by normal development alone,” he continued.
“The only thing you can infer from that is that Red Bull felt there was a desire or a willingness to be a little bit more lenient for the teams playing catch-up, and not lenient at all on the team that was out in front.”
Why Red Bull will be more aggressive in 2025
Now that they aren’t the team being chased by everyone else, Red Bull should be capable of exploring more of the grey areas that they couldn’t take advantage of this year.
It’s the final year of the current technical regulations and they have nothing to lose as Verstappen chases a record-matching fifth consecutive title.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen tells Red Bull they ‘must’ do with Helmut Marko to keep him at the team
With an effective reset in force for 2026, going down the wrong path won’t stunt their long-term aspirations.
Team boss Christian Horner will want to make sure that his driver makes history but first, they have to beat the likes of Lewis Hamilton who now drives for Ferrari.
It’s going to be one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory and everything points toward a four-team fight for both crowns.
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