Helmut Marko on Red Bull’s struggles in Spain: “Wrong tire, wrong call, Max Verstappen was upset”. Red Bull's Spanish GP gamble backfires as Verstappen finishes tenth.

The Austrian manager’s words
“Red Bull is fighting with everything it has; it’s like a wounded animal, and as such, it’s hard to approach.” That’s how Damon Hill commented on the Spanish GP on X, focusing on Red Bull’s attempt to shake up the race by making an extra pit stop to counteract tire degradation that was far worse compared to McLaren’s virtually unmatched performance.

In the final stages, however, a Safety Car was needed due to a technical failure for Andrea Kimi Antonelli—a neutralization that forced Red Bull into a tough decision. Max Verstappen had no new sets of soft tires left, except one set that had already done seven laps. The Anglo-Austrian team opted for new hard tires, but it turned out to be a costly mistake, ultimately resulting in a tenth-place finish due to the penalty imposed on Max Verstappen, who vented his frustration with an aggressive wheelbang against George Russell.

“When you take risks, things can go wrong,” said Helmut Marko. “The data told us otherwise, but the choice to go with the hard tire was wrong and it irritated Max. We didn’t have time to ask him what he wanted to do. The real issue, however, remains the performance gap with McLaren—we were surprised by the qualifying difference. Overall, we’re three tenths behind, and even someone like Max can’t make up for that. We need to find a way to improve the car and treat the tires more gently.” – the Red Bull advisor concluded following the ninth round of the 2025 Formula 1 championship, the Spanish Grand Prix, which was held last weekend at the 4.657-kilometre Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.