Red Bull cannot afford to let up. Doing so would mean risking the loss of Max Verstappen and sliding into a black hole. The Milton Keynes team has suffered significantly from the departure of Adrian Newey, the undisputed genius of F1. Nonetheless, the current status of the Austrian team remains solid, despite the performance gap to the category leader.
The status of the Austrian team
We’re talking about McLaren, which for a season now has been dominating the technical scene in Formula 1, particularly on the topic of flexible wings. This has been made possible by a long-term restructuring, meticulously planned. But Red Bull cares little about this, as their only goal remains unchanged: winning. Max is in contention for the drivers’ championship, with a twelve-point lead over Oscar Piastri.
In the constructors’ standings, although only five races have taken place, the gap is already significantly larger. It stands at 99 points, a gap too wide to realistically aim for the title, especially considering the “absence” of a second driver who can match or even come close to Max’s performance. It’s undoubtedly a problem the team will struggle to solve quickly.
The reason is simple: the exceptional talent of the four-time F1 world champion is hard to match. Moreover, it seems Max Verstappen’s driving style with the RB21 is unique. It’s a situation not unlike what’s happening at Ferrari, where the direction Leclerc has taken to drive around the car’s issues is paying off—but again, it’s not easily replicable by someone like Lewis Hamilton.
Small changes, but effective
After the opening race in Australia, Red Bull’s top advisor, Helmut Marko, admitted that the team, prior to race 5, was not yet able to introduce minor updates to improve the car’s degradation—an issue that still partially remains. We saw it in Bahrain, where the car faced several challenges and engineers couldn’t find a setup that suited the track.
With that configuration, they lacked longitudinal grip, an issue thoroughly analyzed via telemetry and onboard footage. Verstappen was forced to use frequent short shifts in most traction-demanding zones. This means he had to upshift earlier than usual to limit rear-wheel spin. On circuits that require softer setups, Red Bull continues to struggle.
On tracks like Japan or Saudi Arabia, where stiffer setups are used, the car finds a performance window in which it’s more competitive. Of the two races, Max won one, and the other, in Jeddah last weekend, he could have won without the penalty. The updates announced by the team are proving effective. Verstappen himself confirmed this after the 300 kilometers raced in Saudi Arabia.
Max noted that the car felt much more balanced in the race, although some limitations persist. He added that the changes made have worked and that degradation was reduced. The two keys to good race pace are pure pace and degradation. As for the former, Red Bull is in good shape: when they hit the operating window, the RB21 delivers excellent performance.
RB21 updated for the Imola Grand Prix
On the degradation front, changes made after many hours in the simulator involved tweaking small suspension setups on the car to obtain marginal improvements. These benefits, when added together, help ease tire stress on track. Reducing degradation remains a “dark science,” as it’s not enough to work on just one parameter.
Degradation levels depend on suspension geometry and various alignment angles. True, but load and balance also matter. So far, only the suspension has been modified, while for Imola, the RB21 will receive its new aerodynamic package. “Only” in Italy, because like Ferrari, they don’t want to test it in Miami, where the Sprint Race format leaves just one free practice session.
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