Max Verstappen has conceded that he can’t guarantee that Red Bull has resolved the issues the team experienced in 2024 based on Formula 1 pre-season testing alone.
Red Bull has been open that the aim with the team’s 2025 car has been to eradicate the balance woes which contributed to a sudden mid-season decline with the RB20.
Verstappen’s initial verdict from testing in Bahrain was positive as he described the RB21 as being a more predictable package than the squad’s recalcitrant predecessor.
However, Red Bull’s outing concluded with heightened enigmas surrounding the side’s prospects as trouble with a revised floor consigned it to amassing the fewest laps.
Heading into the opening race in Australia, Verstappen has warned that it would be premature to claim that the limitations Red Bull encountered last term are now resolved.
Asked how concerned he was that Red Bull’s gremlins will be prevalent, Verstappen told media including Motorsport Week: “We’ll do our best to make it as competitive as possible.
“It’s the final year of these regulations, so I guess up to a certain point – and I don’t know where that is – you focus on this year, and then at some point, you focus on a whole different thing.
“We’ll make it more driveable, but Bahrain is very different to what we have here, so it’s a bit difficult to say if things have been fully fixed or not.
“I guess we just have to be patient and see how much we can regain.”
Verstappen insists Red Bull ‘not quickest’
Earlier this week Verstappen declared that Red Bull won’t be competitive enough to be in contention to win at Albert Park, where he has been victorious once before in 2023.
The Dutchman doubled down on that view, though he pinpointed that Red Bull’s swing in competitiveness last term showed that the side’s existing deficit isn’t irrecoverable.
Questioned on whether he is anticipating a tighter campaign than usual, Verstappen responded: “Impossible to know at the moment.
“I mean, I know that we are not the quickest at the moment, but again, it’s a very long season.
“If you would have asked that question here last year and then at the end of the season again, you know it looked completely different.
“So a lot of things can always change quite quickly in Formula 1.”
Lawson has limited Red Bull reference point
Verstappen will have a new presence in the opposite garage this season as Liam Lawson has replaced Sergio Perez, whose torrid 2024 campaign led to him being ousted.
But having made less than a dozen F1 starts with Red Bull’s satellite squad, Lawson has acknowledged that he isn’t equipped to discuss the step the senior team has made.
“Obviously Max is going to have a much clearer indication of what he’s driven in the past as a reference so from where I sit it’s more adapting to what it is and honestly trying to match what he’s doing,” Lawson said. “So far it feels good, but honestly in pre-season testing, you don’t really get the clearest of indications.
“We know McLaren are strong, probably stronger than us at the moment, but we won’t truly know where everybody sits until qualifying.”
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