Right now, Formula 1 seems divided between alarmists and firefighters: those who speak frankly and go straight to the heart of the problem, and those who try to pour water on the flames to reduce pressure around the team.
At Red Bull, these two roles are embodied by the ever-blunt Helmut Marko, who never sugarcoats his opinions, and by Christian Horner, who preaches calm and hopes upcoming updates will get the RB21 back on track.
“The main takeaway is that we are too slow. We saw that when McLaren pushed, we were seven tenths behind. For the first time, we saw their pure speed. We need performance immediately, but it was depressing to see just how fast the McLarens really are,” Marko commented, adding that he expected more from the innovations introduced in Miami.
On the other hand, Christian Horner, taking the “firefighter” stance, admitted that McLaren currently holds the upper hand, especially in tyre management. But he also pointed out that the varying characteristics of each circuit can alternately favour different teams. He emphasized that the full potential of the Miami upgrades will only become clear as further components are added.
“In the last race, we had the pace to beat McLaren, while this one highlighted their advantage. They managed to operate in a window where they were very effective. That’s why it looks like there’s a big gap, but we’ve seen how things can change from one track to another. The tyres are very sensitive; here we were running with hotter tyres than in Jeddah.
I believe the new floor gave us a trait we were looking for and is part of a package of components we’ll introduce in the coming races,” added Horner, noting that the floor brought to Miami was just a “starter” for what’s expected to be unveiled at Imola.
The gap McLaren built in Miami is the clearest image yet of a Red Bull that still has a long way to go to consistently match the papaya team. The numbers speak for themselves: from the moment Verstappen was overtaken by Piastri at the start of lap 14, Max dropped 40 seconds. Even subtracting the 9 seconds gained by the McLaren duo during the VSC stop, there’s still an average deficit of 7 tenths per lap.
So far this season, while Red Bull has managed to beat McLaren on occasion, it is no longer enough to rely on strong performances at favourable tracks. Even there, margins are tight and wins aren’t guaranteed. What’s now needed is consistency—something Woking is actively building toward in its quest for the world championship.
The MCL39 is a car that can adapt with few compromises to a wide variety of circuits, and its tyre degradation management has become one of its main strengths. In fact, it’s replicating what was Red Bull’s most dominant trait in 2023, when it ruled the season from start to finish.
It’s those nearly 40 seconds at the chequered flag—and the sense of having to fight with “blunt weapons”—that weighed heavily on a Miami Sunday that exposed the RB21’s current shortcomings. A car that often excels over one lap, but struggles to maintain that edge in races, especially in Grands Prix defined by tyre wear.
Although Verstappen fiercely defended the pole he earned on Saturday, using the strengths of the car, his race battle with the papaya duo lasted less than 20 laps, clearly revealing the MCL39’s superiority. When tyre management becomes critical, McLaren shines. It’s no coincidence Andrea Stella praised the engineering team’s work in this area, giving credit to the technical department.
That was the defining feature of the race: in an event shaped by tyre management, despite the track temperature falling below 40°C, Red Bull couldn’t capitalize on the advantages shown in qualifying. Over a single lap, thanks to the grip of fresh rubber, Max Verstappen made a difference in the first sector, but that scenario changed in the race.
The need to preserve the tyres and reduce stress in the fast curves of sector one—particularly the front-right, which had already been the weak point during the sprint and caused annoying understeer—forced Red Bull to take a more conservative approach, while McLaren demonstrated the value, adaptability, and consistency of the MCL39.
In places like Turn 5, where in qualifying McLaren was 8 km/h slower than the RB21—a car that excels in fast corners due to its aerodynamic and mechanical traits—in the race, the papaya duo was reaching speeds 15–20 km/h faster by the end of the first stint. That figure reflects just how much of an advantage McLaren had, which also extended to the slow sections, thanks to impressive gains in reducing understeer over the last year.
There have been circuits this season that clearly played to Red Bull’s strengths, both in layout and circumstance: in Jeddah, tyre degradation wasn’t a key factor, while in Suzuka, an excellent qualifying and the difficulty of overtaking helped their cause. But it’s now clear that such factors are no longer sufficient.
The situation bears some resemblance to Ferrari’s: this McLaren will not be beaten simply by tweaking setups or hoping for a favourable track. Over the past 12 months, McLaren has built its strength through high-quality development and smart decision-making—areas where Red Bull has objectively faced several challenges.
The Milton Keynes squad is placing a lot of hope in the upgrade package set for Imola, the next round of the championship, as well as in the new regulations on flexible wings due to take effect in Spain—an area where Red Bull hasn’t pushed the limits as far as its rivals. But right now, that hope seems more like wishful thinking than a real conviction. And the upcoming races may already prove to be a turning point for the championship.
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