Red Bull was undoubtedly one of the main protagonists of the 2025 Formula 1 season. The Milton Keynes-based team went through a true internal revolution, with the departure of Christian Horner midway through the season and Helmut Marko leaving after the final race in Abu Dhabi. The arrival of Laurent Mekies had an immediate positive impact, and the development of the RB21 under his leadership allowed Max Verstappen to fight for the title until the very end.
The Dutch driver’s performances from the summer break onwards reopened a championship that had seemed like an exclusive battle between the two McLarens. The various solutions introduced by the team transformed a car that, in the middle phase of the season, appeared to be no more than the fourth-fastest package. The only real negative note remained the familiar difficulty in managing the second driver, with Yuki Tsunoda failing to improve on the results achieved by Liam Lawson in the opening two races.
Red Bull: 2025 season highlights
In 2025, Red Bull secured eight Formula 1 victories, all with Max Verstappen. The first win came at Suzuka after a defensive race against the McLarens, in a scenario similar to what later unfolded at Imola. The strongest results, however, arrived in the second half of the season. Max claimed six victories and finished on the podium in every race from the Netherlands to Abu Dhabi.
The turning point came at the Italian Grand Prix, where a risky setup choice proved decisive. By opting for an extreme low-downforce configuration, Red Bull achieved a crucial victory. The four-time World Champion himself underlined the importance of that moment. At the time, it was Laurent Mekies who listened to his driver on this decision, going “against” the wishes of the engineers.
The Austrian team showed its ability to seize every opportunity when McLaren did not have the best car on track. Victories at Monza and Baku came thanks to excellent performance in low-downforce conditions. The two wins at Austin and Las Vegas highlighted a car capable of adapting to very different scenarios. Finally, the successes in Qatar and Abu Dhabi allowed the team to dream of the title, but Lando Norris managed to defend his position in the final race.
Red Bull ended the season with 15 podium finishes, which rise to 18 when Sprint Races are included, all achieved by car number #1, who is set to take the #3 from 2026. There were also eight pole positions, matching the number of victories. Verstappen clearly made the difference, but on several circuits the car itself showed excellent race management.
Difficulties and strengths
The team also had to deal with complicated moments within its own walls. Horner’s departure was undoubtedly a major turning point. His replacement, Laurent Mekies, brought a new and positive energy to the squad. The first real difficulties emerged in Barcelona, when Max lost his temper during the race against George Russell. From there came a retirement in Austria and a poor performance at Silverstone. The lowest point arrived in Hungary, where the car lacked performance and Verstappen could only finish ninth.
From that moment on, Red Bull’s strength emerged. Efforts were increasingly focused on the RB21, with the championship still in mind, even if it was becoming a distant target. The path was not completely linear, even after the continuous developments introduced following the summer break. The upgrades brought to Mexico, for example, did not work as intended and the car struggled with bouncing.
However, the team’s true character was on display in Brazil. Saturday at Interlagos was disastrous, but Red Bull took a step back by fitting an older floor. Starting from the pit lane, Verstappen managed to climb back up to third place. Often the car was not optimal on Friday or in qualifying, but through setup changes the team always managed to recover in time to deliver results on Sunday.
At Milton Keynes, a huge amount of work went into the RB21. In some respects, perhaps even too much, considering the floor introduced in Mexico, which caused more problems than benefits. This development direction helped close the gap to McLaren, but it may also have diverted too many resources away from 2026, when the new regulations will come into force.
Final standings and teammate comparison
Red Bull finished the 2025 Formula 1 season in third place in the constructors’ championship, scoring a total of 451 points. Of these, 421 points, around 93%, were collected by Verstappen. The remaining points came from Tsunoda, while Liam Lawson scored zero points in his two races.
Max dominated the head-to-head race battles, winning 2–0 against Lawson and 21–1 against the Japanese driver. Yuki Tsunoda’s only “positive” result came if Max Verstappen’s retirement in Austria, following the incident with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, is taken into account. A similar story unfolded in qualifying, where Verstappen was never beaten by his teammates throughout the season. One-sided statistics also define the eight victories and 15 podium finishes.
In the Sprint Races, Max secured two wins and three podiums, while his teammates once again failed to score. Tsunoda only finished ahead of Verstappen once, in Miami, when the Dutch driver received a penalty after contact with Kimi Antonelli in the pit lane. In Sprint Qualifying sessions contested together, the score was 4–1 in favour of Verstappen, with Yuki Tsunoda outperforming him only in Qatar.
Red Bull: expectations for 2026
The Milton Keynes outfit represents one of the most intriguing stories heading into the next season. The major novelty is the production of its own power units in collaboration with Ford. In recent days, attention has focused almost exclusively on the solution reportedly found together with Mercedes to increase the compression ratio by exploiting a grey area in the regulations. In any case, only the first on-track data will reveal the true quality of Red Bull’s 2026 engine project.
Another key aspect to watch will be the debut of Isack Hadjar alongside Max Verstappen. Recent second drivers have faced enormous difficulties, and it remains to be seen whether the Frenchman can reverse the trend of recent seasons. Mekies has often pointed out that the car could struggle under the new regulations due to the greater experience of other manufacturers, but real answers will only arrive in Melbourne.
There is also another dilemma linked to one of the strengths of 2025. What if the team focused too much on the season just ended? Rivals abandoned development early, committing all their resources to the 2026 project. In this sense, Red Bull could pay a price in comparison with its direct competitors. The positive aspect is that, under the leadership of the French Team Principal, there now appears to be a calmer and more harmonious atmosphere within the factory.
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