Twelve months ago, Red Bull flexed its muscles at the Shanghai and Suzuka races, overwhelming the competition. In the paddock, there was the resignation of those doomed to watch a monologue similar to the one shown by the Milton Keynes team in 2024. In the subsequent races, the RB20, despite winning seven of the first ten races, handed over the technical leadership to McLaren.
The Woking team seems to have the right tools to complete its growth process in the current racing season. The MCL39 is not just the simple evolution of a winning project, but it has shown innovative solutions like those of the front brake baskets, a move that partly contributes to tire thermal management, offering significant stability in their management, already appreciated in Melbourne.
In short, when the foundation is excellent, fine-tuning can be done, while the competition is still searching for the key to give their best. The Austrian team, in the season-opening Grand Prix, achieved a result that exceeded expectations. Under normal conditions, the papaya-colored cars would likely have left the rest of the group behind, racing on their own and almost lapping everyone without the Safety Car.
The need to be prepared in FP1
Once again, Red Bull clearly demonstrated its ability to adjust compared to the first Friday free practice sessions, providing Dutchman Max Verstappen with a car capable of at least being the first of the rest. While the Australian Grand Prix brought in more than expected, in China, the Austrian team is expected to show its potential on one of the most favorable tracks in recent times.
The Sprint format doesn’t allow for showing up unprepared. The single 60-minute session must certify the work done in the Milton Keynes simulator. It is true that Sprint Weekends, with two closed park phases, offer the opportunity to catch up after the 100km mini-race, allowing adjustments to the setup for the Sunday race. The four-time F1 world champion’s morale is high, despite being aware of McLaren’s superiority.
Verstappen’s confidence
Jos’ son said he was very satisfied with the weekend in Australia. According to the Hasselt talent, there is still a lot of room to extract more from the RB21 developments, especially concerning tire degradation, which didn’t seem optimal in Australia. The data collected in Melbourne should help understand the excessive tire wear, which has also been complained about by other teams, except the super McLaren.
In this regard, the weekend in China should provide definitive and concrete answers. This, despite the understanding of the various sessions inevitably making the engineers’ work more frantic, considering the special format introduced by Liberty Media. The Shanghai track has always been one of the favorite circuits for the reigning Formula One World Champion.
For this reason, it will be interesting to see, for the first time in the 2025 season, what has remained in the Red Bull RB21 from the good aspects of the previous year’s technical project, which dominated the Eastern leg in China in 2024. In the previous edition, it should be remembered, Red Bull handed McLaren’s Lando Norris a 13-second gap, with the latter beginning to show flashes of absolute competitiveness.
When the fox can’t reach the grapes…
As often happens with the strongest drivers in the category, when the car doesn’t match the talent of the driver, rumors about potential interest from the competition increase. Zak Brown, after admitting that he had contacted Verstappen’s manager and acknowledged the huge demands of his entourage, declared that Max could move to Mercedes starting next season.
The CEO of McLaren seems very interested in the future of the Dutch ace, perhaps aware that, for now, the only threat to the Woking team can be none other than the current reigning Formula One world champion. A way to try to destabilize the Dutch prodigy, but with little chance of success, due to Verstappen’s mental consistency.
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