Red Bull, more shadows than light in China
In light of the disqualification of both Ferrari SF-25 cars, Red Bull is not the team that comes out most bruised from the Chinese GP. After all, Max Verstappen finished the race in fourth place, showing decent pace towards the end when he passed Charles Leclerc on track (and even before the intervention of the race stewards). However, it was a result below expectations for the reigning world champion, who failed to put pressure on the McLarens as he had (almost) all weekend in Melbourne.
Christian Horner, team principal speaks
According to Christian Horner, the team principal of the Milton Keynes-based team, it’s not all to be discarded. “I think the first stint – he explained to Sky UK – was where we lost all the time, as Max entered the pits 18 seconds behind Oscar Piastri and at the chequered flag he was 16 seconds behind. This means that, with the hard tyre, we were quite competitive. So, I think we may have overcompensated with the setup based on the tyre degradation we saw after the Sprint Race. That said, we still need to find a bit more pace to make life easier in the future.”
Red Bull won’t give up on the 2025 project
“Max Verstappen – continues the head of Red Bull Racing – did another great race and made a nice pass on Charles Leclerc. It’s a fourth-place finish and important points, but we know we still have a lot of work to do. Thinking about 2026 already? No, it’s only the second race, and we can’t be that defeatist. We’re 8 points behind in the Drivers’ Championship after two races. And there’s still everything to play for. Last year teaches us that you can start as strongly as you like, but the important thing is how you finish. And we have great strength and depth in our team, everyone in the company knows we have some pace to find, but we have the tools and people to do it. It’s just about figuring out how it works, but this weekend we’ve gathered great data.”
Max Verstappen’s commitment to the team
“Max – Christian Horner concluded – is working harder than I’ve ever seen him work. He’s more integrated into the engineering group than ever before. And, as he himself said, it seems like he enjoys this challenge. He’s not super stressed even though, like all drivers, of course, he’s eager to get good results. But he’s working with the engineers. He talks to them, says ‘Okay, what do you think about this? What about trying this another way because, as a driver, I’m feeling this and this.’ It’s the only way we have to improve Red Bull’s performance.”
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