Red Bull with Max Verstappen is the best of the rest. In F1, McLaren is leading and no technical directive, however complex, seems capable of shaking Woking’s dominance. There is no such thing as performance balancing. If the former world champion team hoped to close the gap, that dream was crushed immediately. Fortunately, there’s Max, an immense talent who always manages to limit the damage.
No progress in qualifying
The third free practice session did not provide the expected feedback and, quite unusually, adjustments continued to be made to the setup of car number 1. A sign of a lacklustre afternoon ahead. In the end, as often happens, the reigning world champion from the Netherlands managed to extract the maximum potential from the RB21, but in Barcelona, at least over a single lap, the two MCL39s seem further ahead than in previous rounds.
That conclusion is supported by the fact that the fastest lap time was just under 72 seconds. Despite yesterday’s good long runs, believing that the Red Bull driver can challenge Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the race requires a healthy dose of optimism. And quite a bit of imagination, frankly. Third place in qualifying was far from guaranteed.
One only needs to look at the slim gaps to those behind the Austrian car in Q3. Russell even posted the exact same time as the Dutch ace but had to settle for fourth because he set his lap later. Regarding the RB21’s absolute performance, it’s worth noting that Yuki Tsunoda qualified last, despite telling the team he had not made any particular mistakes.
A two-speed team is becoming a problem
Red Bull’s project is clearly built around the champion from Hasselt, but the poor performance of his teammates can no longer be overlooked. It’s an embarrassing situation that cannot be pinned on the ability of Verstappen’s current teammate alone. Based on what has been seen up to qualifying, the MCL39’s performance is a cold shower for the Milton Keynes team.
Onboard footage clearly shows the MCL39’s ease in corner entry, mid-corner, and exit compared to the blue Racing car, which forces Verstappen into constant steering corrections during all phases of a turn. In his final flying lap, the world champion built his best time by taking a less aggressive approach in the first sector, preserving tyre grip for the following two sectors.
Max Verstappen resigned
Max did not appear upset after qualifying. It’s unclear whether that reflects resignation or simply the awareness that he extracted the most from the car. The Dutchman said he was satisfied, while also noting he didn’t have the pace to threaten the papaya-colored cars. The RB21’s balance was good, but not at the level of the McLarens.
It’s the worst feeling for a driver: knowing you’ve done your best, yet still being far from the front. As for his strategy at the start, Max confirmed he will look to exploit any opportunities that might arise from intra-team battles at McLaren. However, he has no intention of taking reckless risks, aware that tyre degradation management could shape the outcome of the race.
Currently the only real rival to the papaya boys, he expressed confidence in his race pace, hoping it would be enough at least for a podium finish. That’s no certainty, especially since some competitors—such as Leclerc—even sacrificed qualifying to have more strategic options in the race.
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