Max Verstappen says Red Bull need to make a lot of progress with their car to challenge for victories after McLaren won the season-opening race last weekend.
He finished less than a second behind race winner Lando Norris on Sunday. However he fell over 18 seconds behind the winner at one stage until a Safety Car deployment wiped out his disadvantage.The pace McLaren showed at that point in the race, when Verstappen lost over a second per lap to them at times, highlighted where Red Bull are weaker than their rivals, said Verstappen.
“If you look at the first stint, we were quite a bit off,” he explained. “As soon as the tyres started to overheat we had no chance. McLaren just took off.
“So we still have a lot of work to do to fight for a win. But I’m happy that we are second here. It’s basically one place better than we should have been and it’s 18 more points than I had last year at this race.”
Verstappen spent around a dozen laps pursuing Norris closely at the start of the race but began to drop back when light rain fell and he ran wide at turn 11. Red Bull will focus on improving how their car treats its tyres in upcoming races, he said.
“I could see it coming. I was struggling with my tyres. It was similar to [Saturday]. Intermediates are even more of a soft compound, so they are even more prone to overheating.
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“That’s where we – and a lot of teams – are struggling compared to McLaren. They’re simply doing a better job on that. That’s what we need to work on.”
Despite finishing the race within striking distance of Norris, Verstappen doubted he could have passed the McLaren.
“I tried my best, tried to be close, tried to put a bit of pressure on, but it’s very hard to pass around here,” he said. “There was only one line.
“Even if I had gotten a run into, whatever, turn nine, you have to go onto the wet part, so you can’t really do a lot. But at least it was close. It looked good on TV.”
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Red Andy (@red-andy)
18th March 2025, 9:41
It was interesting the way Max fell off the pace of the McLarens during that first stint. It suggests that the McLaren’s key strength is in tyre management, and conversely that Red Bull might be able to bring the fight to them on tracks where tyre wear isn’t such a big factor. Although McLaren’s one-lap pace is clearly quite impressive too, as Saturday showed.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th March 2025, 10:54
Indeed & other factors worthy of noting are weather conditions & SC neutralizations, i.e., a fully dry & neutralization-free race will give a more accurate picture regarding the outright pace difference.
The Chinese GP should be dry, so I hope also neutralization-free just for the above reference.
Geeorge.be
18th March 2025, 11:11
McLaren raced with (a lot?) more down force, which delivers on tire management and low speed handling. Normally the extra down force means there is also a lot more drag, but the speed traps tell us that they don’t have a lot more drag ( only 5 kph slower than the fastest cars in qualifying, I believe).
I guess the aero efficiency of McLaren is higher than anyone else’s.
Doggy
18th March 2025, 21:39
Out of the 4 “big” team the one that had the bigger rear wing (one of the most important factors to increase downforce) was Ferrari. The wing on the McLaren were virtually the same as Mercs or RBR. Their downforce and mild tyre deg comes from their floor and aero package. Frankly impressive that McLaren is
Patrick (@anunaki)
18th March 2025, 11:28
I wonder what will happen in China with the new rules around flexi wings.
Doggy
18th March 2025, 21:43
The advantage that the McLaren has won’t be significantly affected by their rear wing change. Many pundits have mentioned that if any the McLaren in China will still be at least 0.3/0.25 faster than any other team
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th March 2025, 11:34
Good thing about Red Bull is that they have to get the car “just there” in terms of pace. Max will do the rest, and over a championship, that would be enough; specially if Piastri challenges Norris more often.
MacLeod (@macleod)
19th March 2025, 8:20
The pace is there but Mclaren has the advance on tyres so Max can attack but after 10 laps he needs to pit..
We have to wait when they have some updates on that new concept.
Yannetta
18th March 2025, 18:46
Max is now partially facing what Checo faced for a long long time, a car without illegal features and faulty design.
RH
18th March 2025, 20:39
Cerebral malfunctions should be addressed as quickly as possible.
Doggy
19th March 2025, 0:04
Hahaha ouch!
I don’t understand what people gain from this nonsensical comments.
MacLeod (@macleod)
19th March 2025, 8:17
But still he ended second…….