One swallow never made a summer. Just as a single clue has never provided real proof. Red Bull knows this well, coming off Max Verstappen’s big victory at the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix held last weekend at Imola’s Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit.
After a typically difficult Friday, the Milton Keynes team made the right setup changes on Max Verstappen’s RB21, enabling him to qualify second and win on Sunday.
Credit goes to Max, who with a superb move at Tamburello outpaced Oscar Piastri, but also to a car that had such good pace as to muzzle the MCL39s — the cars that have been the technical benchmark so far in 2025.
The upgrades Red Bull brought in the first part of the season have borne the expected fruit. Now the team seems to have the opportunity to place the car in the right operating window more easily than before. Better balance leads to less sliding and better tire preservation during long runs. It’s no coincidence that Verstappen was able to hold off the papaya cars using both Medium and especially Hard tires.
One vivid moment was the Dutchman’s excellent restart after the Safety Car, where he first defended against Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, then pulled away to win his second race of the season, staying firmly in the fight for the Drivers’ Championship.
“We managed to improve the car’s performance and get it into a better operating window. And, you know, once you eliminate the car’s sliding, you can manage the temperature much better. That was really encouraging,” said Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing team principal.
“The McLarens looked very quick in Friday practice race simulations. But having the pace we had in the race, I’d say it’s probably — after Brazil 2024, which was a wet race — the first time in a long time that we had enough pace to pull away from and beat the McLarens. So it’s very encouraging and a great result for the effort put in behind the scenes.”
Imola sent a signal, but as we said, much more is needed. The team needs confirmations, which could come as soon as Monaco, on a track very different from Imola but equally challenging.
“If what we found at Imola still works, I’ll tell you in Monaco. I think overall we are gaining better grip and a better understanding of the car. And I believe our technical department has worked very hard on these aspects.”
“I think this is a second win and I think we should have won in Jeddah too. So it’s been a very positive weekend and we are gaining some momentum. And that is very important at this stage of the championship,” Christian Horner concluded.
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