Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed the team plans to introduce upgrades to its 2025 Formula 1 car in the next “three to five races” in a bid to catch McLaren.
The sweeping consensus that McLaren would be leading the pack was realised as Lando Norris converted pole position at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen pushed Norris in the opening and closing stages, but those attacks sandwiched a spell where he dropped 14 seconds in 10 laps to the McLaren duo.
With Verstappen’s initial challenge wilting as his Intermediates degraded, Marko admitted that McLaren’s advantage lies in the MCL39 being more gentle on the tyres.
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However, Marko has divulged that Red Bull has developments in the pipeline tailored towards addressing the limitations that are behind the current deficit to McLaren.
“We knew from the tests in Bahrain that the McLarens were quite a bit faster than us,” Marko told Viaplay.
“We reduced this advantage, I would say, from half a second to two or three tenths.
“We can follow them for six to eight laps, but then our tyre degradation comes earlier.
“That’s the main problem, with some other problems as well.
“But we know them, and they are working hard. In three to five races hopefully we can cure it, so that we have a car on the same level as the McLaren.”
Red Bull has ‘good platform’ to develop in 2025
Red Bull harboured the dominant package under this rules period until a misstep in development in 2024 induced balance issues which allowed McLaren to eclipse it.
But Red Bull boss Christian Horner is optimistic the team has a strong base to improve the RB21 having eradicated the capricious traits embedded in its predecessor.
“We did some big set up changes in Bahrain [in pre-season testing],” Horner explained to media including Motorsport Week.
“So, we purposely wanted to go to extremes to understand the set up parameters, so that you’ve got your toolbox of knowledge when you go racing.
“I think the characteristics that this car has is much calmer than [the] RB20. I think actually it’s a platform to develop through the season.
“There’s not the nasty snaps that there was on [the] RB20.
“So that gives us a good dynamic platform for us to develop the car through the season. Through all the different races that we’re going to head to.”
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