On what is usually a happy hunting ground for Red Bull and Max Verstappen, the 2025 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix would become a race to forget for the team on home soil.
Heading into the weekend, Red Bull boss Christian Horner vowed that he wanted to make McLaren fans “cry”. However, it would be the Bulls leaving Spielberg the unhappiest.
Another Q1 exit for Yuki Tsunoda, and a worst-ever home qualifying for Red Bull at the circuit that the organisation owns, was only the beginning of a tumultuous outing.
Having used a scrub set of tyres on his opening Q3 lap, Verstappen’s sole fresh tyre run was lost to a yellow flag when Pierre Gasly spun his Alpine at the final corner.
That condemned Verstappen to seventh place on the grid – his equal-lowest start this season – with Red Bull estimating that his lost lap could have salvaged him third.
However, Verstappen was circumspect when discussing the situationciting that his bigger concern was Lando Norris putting his McLaren on pole position by five tenths.
To compound the disappointment, Verstappen wasn’t even the highest Red Bull-backed machine.
Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson strung together a stunning lap to take sixth on the grid, ahead of season-opening team-mate Verstappen.
In fact, it was the first time that the four-time champion hadn’t started on the front row in Austria in either Grand Prix or Sprint Qualifying since 2018.
Being in the middle of the pack left Verstappen right in the danger zone for the opening lap, too, a danger that would come to fruition all too soon.
On the run-up to Turn 3, Verstappen would fall victim to a mistake from the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who locked his rear brakes and clattered into the Red Bull.
The impact ended both their races on the spot and brought a shuddering halt to Verstappen’s 31-race run in the points – the fourth-longest streak in the sport’s history.
A harsh reminder of life without Verstappen
With Verstappen out, the thinnest of Red Bull hopes resided with Tsunoda. But, unfortunately, it would be a familiar story of disappointment for the second Red Bull.
The Japanese driver failed to make much progress through the field before getting involved in a silly incident at Turn 4 when he punted Franco Colapinto into a spin.
Tsunoda not only incurred front wing damage that required him to make an impromptu visit to the pits, but he also copped a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.
He would finish two laps down on the race-winning McLarens in 16th, and an entire lap behind the battle for seventh between Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto.
And to rain on the senior Red Bull team’s parade, Lawson would convert his top-six start at the chequered flag for a career-high finish in the satellite Racing Bulls car.
Doing so at the home race of the team that demoted him so quickly just added more salt to the already deep Red Bull wounds.
A dark day in Austria marked the end of a 77-race streak of points finishes for the Milton Keynes-based squad dating back to the first race with the current cars in 2022.
Ultimately, it was also a timely reminder of how vulnerable Red Bull is without Verstappen in the mix at a time when there are renewed rumours that he might depart.
Red Bull registered the team’s lowest finish in the Constructors Championship since 2019 with third last season, and sit one place worse off after 11 races this season.
But while it remains in a squabble with Ferrari and Mercedes to place second behind leaders McLaren, Red Bull’s second car has contributed a meagre seven points.
That makes for grim reading as discounting Verstappen’s continued heroics in the RB21 would see Red Bull rest last in the Constructors’ Championship behind Alpine.
Why Red Bull must reset as Verstappen exit looms
The reality is, without Verstappen at the wheel, Red Bull would be in serious trouble.
Therefore, the rumours of potential release clauses in the Dutchman’s contract might be leaving some with sleepless nights in the team.
While not officially confirmed, a potential clause involves Verstappen being outside the top three in the Championship come the end of July.
And with the Mercedes of George Russell just nine points adrift heading to Silverstone, that reality has come closer than Red Bull would want.
Regardless of whether the clause rumours are true, the Verstappen-Red Bull partnership that had dominated F1 might be on its last legs either way.
The Dutchman, who has been in the sport since 2015, has openly stated that he harbours no interest in sticking around long-term like Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton.
And although Verstappen is tied down to a contract with Red Bull until 2028, contracts in F1 these days are less than binding and tend to comprise exit mechanisms.
In the circumstance where Verstappen does choose to call time on his career in F1, or the release clause rumours are true, Red Bull has left itself in a precarious place.
While it appears to have a superstar waiting in the wings in Arvid Lindblad, what stops him suffering the same fate as the rest who have tried to tame the Red Bull beast?
Talented drivers with experience such as Alex Albon, Gasly, Sergio Perez, Lawson and Tsunoda, have all tried and so far failed to deliver adequate results in a Red Bull.
Red Bull could survive with Verstappen dragging the car to wins and titles when it had a competitive advantage, but that is no longer the case approaching F1’s next era.
Should Red Bull want to challenge again, a complete overhaul is essential, because while drivers come and go, Verstappen-esque talents emerge once in a blue moon.
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