At Red Bull, the first race of the season represents a kind of test, but more for themselves than for comparing with others. The pre-season tests in Bahrain were full of ups and downs: after a good first day, the rest of the testing offered fewer satisfactions, both due to setup choices and because some technical updates didn’t immediately provide the expected results.
In the following days, Max Verstappen spent a lot of time in the simulator to help the team understand the direction to take and how to improve the setup, but a few days ago he highlighted how Red Bull was not in a position to fight for victory in Melbourne.
This view was partly shared by Helmut Marko, who also showed a bit more optimism, pointing out that at least the engineers had found the answers they were looking for after the tests, though these were more relevant to Bahrain. The problem is precisely this: not always being forced to chase the right setup or to understand why something doesn’t work.
Last year, this was one of the main issues, because aside from the aerodynamic difficulties of the RB20, which Red Bull hoped to have solved with the RB21, the team often found itself in the position of having to adapt to the situations it faced on track, as the setups prepared at home didn’t give the desired results.
The limited answers given on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix should also be interpreted with this in mind: better to let the track speak. In the past, Max Verstappen has never been a driver to shy away from such topics, especially regarding the competitiveness of the car, often providing a clear picture of the situation, even in the most difficult moments.
On the contrary, in the Melbourne press conference, Max Verstappen chose to keep a low profile with few words: “What kind of shape? A positive shape, I think. I don’t know. I guess we’ll know more this weekend. We’ll try to do our best. There’s not much else to do, tests don’t last many days. We’ve already identified some areas to work on and we’ll keep doing that.”
“I think there’s naturally an improvement, but I think I’ve already said it: there are still things we want to improve and do better now. Also, this is a different track from Bahrain,” the Dutch driver said in response to two different questions.
When asked if the 2025 season would be harder than last year’s, Max Verstappen was equally brief in his response, also reminding that many things can change throughout the season thanks to developments: “At the moment, it’s impossible to know. I know that right now we’re not the fastest, but the season is very long. If you had asked this question here last year and then again at the end of the season, we would have had very different answers.”
“I don’t know, I don’t think about it, there’s no reason to talk about it now,” he added when asked if this would be the hardest year to defend his title.
Two aspects the four-time world champion focused on again during today’s press conference in Melbourne were, on the one hand, the idea that he wouldn’t be fighting for the victory in the first GP of the year, and on the other, the consideration that the Australian track would be different from Bahrain, which could change how the car adapts to the characteristics of the circuit.
Clearly, compared to twelve months ago, Max Verstappen and Red Bull are in a very different situation, especially with more doubts about the start of the season. In fact, compared to the other seasons where Max won the title, this is probably the year where there are the most doubts about the competitiveness of the new car at the start.
It’s not just a matter of how competitive they are compared to the competition, but also the negative trend observed last season, where instead of growing, the RB20 saw its rivals catch up. One of the goals with the RB21 was to address the flaws of its predecessor, and so far, Red Bull has only received mixed responses.
Even though they have a general idea of where the teams stand after the tests, the Milton Keynes team has not hidden that during pre-season testing, they didn’t get all the feedback they hoped for from the RB21 and its updates. They undoubtedly believe they have a more solid foundation than the RB20, but is it enough to have solved the balance issues encountered last year?
“We’ll try to make the car more drivable, but Bahrain is a very different track from Melbourne, so it’s a bit difficult to say if certain things have been fully fixed or not. I think we’ll have to be patient and see how much we can recover,” said the Red Bull driver in the press conference.
At the end of the tests, we talked about Red Bull as a wildcard, depending on how well they understand the car. The RB21 seems to have fewer “peaks” than last year’s car, but everyone has confirmed that there’s still work to be done, especially to find that operating window where the team believes there’s untapped potential.
All of this could be an extension of Max Verstappen’s approach, at a time when the Milton Keynes team is probably heading into the start of the season with more questions than answers.
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