The Brazilian Grand Prix weekend proved extremely intense for Red Bull. After what looked like a disastrous start, the team still managed to fight back and secure a podium finish. The entire São Paulo event became a roller-coaster of emotions for the Milton Keynes squad, which went from a weekend to forget to an unexpected and impressive comeback.
The Sprint format once again created complications for the engineers, who arrived at the only free practice session without a fully refined setup. That lack of preparation ended up compromising a significant part of the weekend.
In FP1, Max Verstappen struggled to find confidence with the RB21, and the car began to suffer across every section of the track. Even though the team made setup changes after the session, instability issues carried on all the way into Sprint qualifying. In the Sprint race, Max Verstappen managed to limit the damage by finishing fourth, but the performance was far from encouraging, with the RB21 still showing clear understeer and oversteer problems.
Qualifying and race: setup reset once again
After the Sprint Race, the team went back to work and made significant setup adjustments ahead of qualifying. Among the decisions that stood out was the choice to replace the floor, reverting to the previous specification used before Mexico.
Qualifying turned into one of the worst sessions of Max Verstappen’s career, with the Dutch driver eliminated in Q1. That result pushed the team to start both cars from the pit lane, breaking parc fermé rules in order to make further setup changes. Red Bull also opted to install a new power unit for the race.
The race itself, however, told a completely different story. Max Verstappen delivered an exceptional comeback, taking a brilliant third place despite concerns over a possible early puncture. His race pace was strong and comparable to the speed shown by McLaren throughout the Grand Prix.
The RB21 often struggles to hit the ground running on Friday, and this lack of early readiness has already cost the team important results. In Brazil, though, Red Bull managed to react decisively after several costly missteps.
Why was the new floor abandoned?
Red Bull introduced a new floor in Mexico, signalling the team’s continued push to unlock the remaining potential of the RB21. The update featured a more linear shape in the transition between the floor and the sidepods, along with changes to the vortex generator area, where two elements now appear at the front section.
These modifications were designed to increase overall downforce and allow the car to run at a lower ride height. However, once the car was lowered, the team encountered bouncing issues. To counteract that, Red Bull stiffened the suspension, a change that typically harms performance. The end result was a car that became difficult to drive in all conditions. Removing the new floor and returning to the previous version proved at least partially effective in restoring stability.
The Brazil weekend has almost extinguished Red Bull’s remaining hopes of fighting for the Drivers’ Championship, with the gap between Max Verstappen and championship leader Lando Norris now significant. Even so, the second half of the season has shown a far more competitive Red Bull, and without the troubled start to the year, the team could have been in contention for much bigger results.
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