Red Bull held a meeting with Max Verstappen following the Chinese Grand Prix to reassure him over their development plans.
The world champion has begun his title defence on the back foot as Lando Norris pulled eight points clear of him over the opening three rounds.He finished fourth in China, behind the McLaren drivers and George Russell. Although he was encouraged by the car’s pace at the end of the stint, Verstappen said he lost too much time in the opening stint.
“The beginning was not easy, I just tried to drive to the pace we set out to do, but that is of course not at the same level as the cars ahead,” he told the official F1 channel. “The medium [tyre compound] was probably a bit more difficult.”
“On the hard tyre, from that second-half phase, we seemed a bit more competitive, more promising at least. That was at least enjoyable, trying to catch the cars ahead, having a bit of a fight as well.
“I think we’ll take that as a positive that there is pace in the car at some point. We just need to understand probably a bit more why it didn’t happen in the beginning and why at the end of the race it was better.”
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Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said the team had a productive meeting with Verstappen this week.
“After returning from China, a meeting took place in Milton Keynes where we explored how and when RBR would have a winning car again,” Marko told Red Bull-owned publication Speed Week. “It was a good conversation between Max and the engineers. We were able to show Verstappen the general development direction of the race car and what specific improvements are being made to the car.”
Marko said the RB21 has shown potential but has clear flaws. “We’re behind McLaren, the car is difficult to drive, and the set-up isn’t exactly straightforward either,” he said.
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“But we saw in the second part of the race in China: If things go well, like Verstappen did at the end of the race, now on hard tyres, he can drive as fast as or even faster than the leader. In fairness, though, I have to add – leader Piastri certainly wasn’t going full speed.
“Our mistake came with the medium [compound] tyres in the first part of the race in China. Max was too cautious there, based on his experiences from the only free practice session and also from the sprint, when the front tyres degraded very early. Verstappen still had that in mind. In retrospect, he could have pushed harder.”
Yesterday Red Bull made the shock announcement it has replaced Verstappen’s team mate, Liam Lawson, for the upcoming race in Japan. Marko said “mistakes crept in” Lawson’s driving after he was unable to drive in final practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
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“This trend continued in China. We had to act before Liam completely lost his confidence. In this context, we must not forget – his career isn’t over. He’s back driving for Racing Bulls, a team with a car that’s always capable of scoring points, a car that’s also significantly easier to drive and ultimately, a team where he won’t be measured against Max Verstappen.
Marko insisted Red Bull’s early driver change “is nothing unusual – we’ve done it before with Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, and both are still established drivers in Formula 1, with successful careers.”
Red Bull has promoted Yuki Tsunoda to Lawson’s seat, having passed him over for promotion at the end of last year. “Of course, there are many know-it-alls who will now object: Why wasn’t Tsunoda given preference from the start?
“This is because Yuki’s career often had ups and downs; he didn’t exactly have the image of reliability and consistency. But now he’s made a leap in his development, including in terms of physical preparation – Tsunoda is now a real muscleman.
“Yuki delivered impressive performances over the first two race weekends. So what distinguished Lawson in the second half of the 2024 season, we now see in Yuki.”
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He dismissed speculation Red Bull’s engine designer Honda pushed for Tsunoda to join the team ahead of the race his home event at their Suzuka circuit.
“The fact that this change of position and promotion for Honda protege Tsunoda came about just before his home race in Japan and on Honda’s home track is a coincidence,” he said. “It certainly helps that Yuki knows this racetrack well, but it also applies to Lawson. That wasn’t the deciding factor.”
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2025 Chinese Grand Prix
- Red Bull reassure Verstappen over ‘when we’ll have a winning car again’ in meeting
- Mercedes explain impact of Antonelli’s floor damage on his Chinese GP performance
- “I gave a lot of lap time away in that first stint”: Verstappen’s full Chinese GP radio
- Stats: Chinese Grand Prix saw most disqualifications in an F1 race for 21 years
- Even the best driver on the grid needs a team mate to push them – Norris
S Arkazam
28th March 2025, 10:28
Sound very considerate.
I’m still looking for a Social Worker in our HR department and might ask Marko if he’s interested.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
28th March 2025, 10:29
“Max, you’ll have a winning car in 2026, and it’ll be a Mercedes.”
BasCB (@bascb)
28th March 2025, 10:30
:-)
Doggy
28th March 2025, 11:45
LOL that is totally what is brewing in the back ground. Toto seeing what is happening at RBR, gives him the kind of dreams at night that he hasn’t had since 2014.
BasCB (@bascb)
28th March 2025, 10:36
Hm, Marko suddenly mentioning that Perez “with all his experience struggled with the 24 car” is not the flex Marko makes it sound like. Sure, they SHOULD have known that replacing Perez by Lawson did nothing to solve their problem, but it only tells us how absurd their, especially his own, rethoric against their own driver (or really just about any of their 2nd drivers recently) has been instead of looking at the team doing a bad job with the car and not even listening to either driver about how bad to drive it was.
And yeah, I am sure Max will feel really good they have plans. and I am sure he will be glad if they halfway adress the issues while he is still in the car. But I seriously doubt it will be convincing enough to just make him commit long term for Red Bull. And with the way things are going, it’s not unlikely some of his “out” clauses are triggered in the coming months.
I have little doubt he has been actively looking at both Mercedes and probably Aston Martin as alternatives (and probably had contacts with the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine, and possibly even Audi to see where things are headed) to decide on the next few years.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
28th March 2025, 11:49
Bonkers you think he is speaking to Alpine, Audi and even Aston. Unless you mean Jos? He stuck with the team when they were nowhere near Mercedes and although he’s likely to be in a different place now, those teams are for past its and other teams number 2’s. Not his level. If he wants a big and long project, maybe Aston but he isn’t going to jump before the 2026 reset plays out
BasCB (@bascb)
28th March 2025, 12:30
Max himself, or people on behalf of him – yeah, i did not bother to think who exactly would keep contacts, Max himself most likely does nothing of that talking personally. But off course he (they) will – be it he would clearly not be joining Alpine, it seems the Newey factor IS a lure for him, but it depends on what is on offer at AM. And I guess Mercedes is still a real option?
The point I was making is that he is certainly weighing his options and exploring (yes, through others on his behalf) the options.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
28th March 2025, 12:35
I think from the little i know they are always talking to each other all the time but it means very little outside of the 24/7 media. Its a travelling circus and the strong man is as likely to be having a cup of tea with the bearded lady as the trapeze artist
Doggy
28th March 2025, 11:50
What is likely to make Max leave Redbull, is not the driving winning car issue. It’s more related to the team debacle and all the shenanigans happening in the team.
A lot of the talent, including Newey, left because of that.
Marko and Horner won’t be able to lie, hide, or sweet talk to Max about that.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
28th March 2025, 16:24
I think you mean the curbs at Miami. Because they pretty much undid last year’s Red Bull. Turned Perez from a podium finisher to a never-ran. Pretty insane curbs if you ask me. Maybe one day they will figure out how those curbs managed to hop over to the other tracks and completely wreck all the other tracks, just for Red Bull.
The best thing Red Bull can do is dump Verstappen on Mercedes and get back to the business of making a car ANYONE can drive. Just like Ducati in MotoGP, not like the Japanese makes in MotoGP that needed a Japanese tire maker to save them for so many years.
Some properties are not worth holding on to, some people hold on till they are worth nothing, and Max and his Dad were obscenely toxic last year to the team’s output. And the son is still destroying their efforts by requiring all of their attention/setup consideration.
If RBR want to land a podium, start giving their #2 half of the effort of set up. Instead of giving a guy who has mislead them and whose dad had been throwing them under the bus in the media.
Billybobbb
28th March 2025, 19:22
Yes offcourse, it is better to dump a 4 time world champion…Really makes sense!
Doggy
28th March 2025, 21:54
The thing is that all the real decision makers and highly successful people in F1 like Horner, Toto, Zac Brown, Strolls, etc. Are fighting among them to get MV at almost any cost. While you argue against it.
By building a car that “ANYONE” can drive, stop spreading that lie. Go to YouTube and Google Adrien Newey, Alex Albon, Driver61, etc. Explaining that the car is built to be as fast as it can. Obviously they tweak it, to Max’s style. Same way Mercedes did with Hamilton and Bottas, or Schumacher and co….
Also, I don’t now what are you on about MV and Checo. Max whipped the floor in each and every single season.
2021: MV 395 SP 190
2022: MV 454 SP 305
2023: MV 574 SP 285
2024: MV 437 SP 152
Ronald
30th March 2025, 17:33
Your hate obscures your judgement.
Chris (@austin-healey)
28th March 2025, 11:55
Marko is the one who needs to be sacked.
I can’t believe he can be such a loose cannon!!
Adam (@rocketpanda)
28th March 2025, 12:21
People keep saying Verstappen will leave Red Bull but really – where is he going to go? Not to Ferrari or McLaren anytime soon, so Mercedes? Why swap when Russell’s doing very well and Antonelli is impressing, why make that change? Aston Martin with Newey & Honda’s a good bet but to replace who, presumably Alonso unless they find the balls to remove Stroll and even then it’ll most likely take a few years for them to be competitive, most likely behind Red Bull at least initially. Alpine, Williams, Haas, Audi, Cadillac… not in the conversation. Like I get *why* he might want to leave but the short answer is he has nowhere to go.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
28th March 2025, 13:11
I agree. It seems like VER requires a very specific car so he’ll need a team that is willing to build a car.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
28th March 2025, 16:37
he needs 100% of the engineers attention, not a specific car. The real question is will Toto discard a great racing driver like George and possibly wreck KA’s career just to cater to that guy’s needs. The only way this works is if the power unit is really that great. Cause if it’s not, KA might get flushed down the drain if something like that were to happen and Merc are an almost podium contender.
Doggy
28th March 2025, 13:11
Every Team,but Ferrari, will drop any of their driver for Max in a heartbeat. It’s a fact.
Stroll, Toto, and Zac Brown both have made publicly available that at least they have given MV at least one offer.
He is not only currently the best driver in the grid, but second driver that will bring the most marketing to the team.
An Sionnach
28th March 2025, 16:43
Yes. I’m sure you mean whatever team Lewis is in will not have Max in it because Lewis is still a big enough deal to not be swatted aside. Everyone else would be. I’m sure Ferrari would drop any other driver, including Leclerc.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
28th March 2025, 13:11
EVERYONE would take him and any collateral damage would not be a problem
David BR (@david-br)
28th March 2025, 14:18
Everyone except Ferrari, yes. Sure Verstappen is a better prospect going forward than Hamilton or Leclerc, for different reasons, but the financial collateral damage would be pretty big unless Hamilton retires. A Hamilton-Verstappen line-up, on the other hand, would possibly be the most dynamite ever in Formula 1. So unlikely too.
Doggy
28th March 2025, 14:45
Perhaps, you are right. But LH’s move to Ferrari was never about a winning duo. It’s about the amount of money Lewis brings via marketing. Remember by how much Ferrari’s valuation went up overnight after that announcement.
Now Imagine how much “free” marketing media will Ferrari have if MV and LH are driving together at Ferrari. That will be priceless. Every media outlet in the world will be issuing countless amount of content, on weekly basis, about Ferrari for years.
And that will there be for posterity, probably the best duo that has ever existed. (Yes yes Senna /Prost and blah blah)
An Sionnach
28th March 2025, 16:46
This would be exciting, but neither Lewis nor Max should have to go for this. Such a thing should be encouraged if we go back to single car dominance again. Best to have the two best drivers in the team in that case.
The Dolphins
28th March 2025, 14:51
Max to Aston Martin would be a no-brainer and benching Lance for a season would be beneficial for the development of the car. Even Max replacing Alonso but keeping him on as a development consultant would be really beneficial. At this point AM is strategically better off with Lance in the second seat so as to not accumulate too many points which would take away from their wind tunnel and CFD credits for 2026, so long as he keeps it out of the wall. I wouldn’t place Max in a Mercedes because there is a large “culture” gap between what he is used to at Red Bull and how Mercedes operates (he will not get his no. 1 status in a contract that’s for sure.) There are still question marks over the in-house RBPT so a Handa PU in a Newey car would be alluring to him.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
28th March 2025, 20:45
If I was Max I’d not go near Aston for 2 seasons. I’d probably ask McLaren what it would take if they are still top in 2026. Fangio titles was ruthless. I’d be too. Max is if anything too nice
Doggy
28th March 2025, 21:59
+1 Tony Mansell. The thing is McLaren already made an offer to MV and Max said, no thanks. ( which you can see how Max told to Zac that they did not offer enough money) it’s on the cloud and documented.
Toto and Mercedes is the best possible combo i think. Max will have a great car, Toto will put that bid check marks on his personal goals to be achieved, and Mercedes will get back a lot of money from Max’s marketing. Plus Kimi can learn a lot from Max
anon
28th March 2025, 16:18
@rocketpanda neither Mercedes nor Aston Martin seems to be actively planning on ditching one of their drivers to get Verstappen, but those two teams happen to have drivers whose contracts are expiring quite soon and could potentially offer something that might be attractive to Verstappen.
Whilst Russell may be doing well at Mercedes, his position at Mercedes is considered slightly vulnerable due to the fact that his contract expires at the end of this season. Over at Aston Martin, we know that Alonso’s contract expires in 2026 and that his partner has indicated there’s a strong possibility that Alonso will retire at that point (Alonso would be over 45 years old by then and would be the oldest driver to race in Formula 1 since Graham Hill in 1975).
Craig
29th March 2025, 12:59
I think he’s more likely to leave the sport altogether then go to another team. Probably go do GT racing or something
Carl Parker (@mysticarl)
28th March 2025, 12:29
Been wondering, is it permitted to do a FP1 with one team but the rest of the race weekend with another? It’d be interesting to see Max try the Team RB car to see if they have a fundamental advantage over Red Bull – he could potentially race for them if the car was that much better to drive?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
28th March 2025, 13:03
Yes, this is allowed – Nyck de Vries did first practice for the 2022 Italian GP in an Aston Martin, then subbed for Alex Albon at Williams from FP3 onwards.
The Dolphins
28th March 2025, 14:59
Would be an interesting experiment! I can’t see Max in a Racing Bulls, with perfect setup, outperforming Max in a Red Bull however. It’s not just the driver, it’s the whole team who wins, and when it comes to strategy, pit stops, setup, race engineering, etc. Red Bull is better than Racing Bulls. Yes the Racing Bull may be a more forgiving car but I doubt even with Max behind the wheel it’s faster on one lap or over the course of a race even than the Red Bull car.
El Pollo Loco
28th March 2025, 13:35
What Max is doing + probably will continue to do w/the RB21 reminds me very much of what Alonso did w/mediocre Ferraris in 2010, 2012 + 2013 (especially 2010 and 2013). Ironically, instead of being the dominant chassis, the RBR is now the mediocre one.
Edvaldo
28th March 2025, 13:58
They’re really getting desperate by this point. Their development path has hit a wall, and even the star driver is looking for options for the first time in a decade or so.
They know they’re doomed without him; that’s how deep they’ve dug themselves in with this approach.
Philip (@philipgb)
28th March 2025, 15:05
Oh man, Alonso losing his seat to another Red Bull driver executing an exit clause would just be cruel. Right when things have the potential to come good for Aston Martin
But he’s the same age now that Schumacher was when Hamilton displaced him. It’s crazy but 13 years ago Schumacher seemed so much older than Alonso does now. Might just be because I’m quite close to Alonso’s age and in complete denial about my own decline and also because it’s been such a long time since Alonso was put up against anyone remotely capable of challenging him. Honestly since Hamilton who has there been? Button wasn’t especially motivated during their time together. And Kimi couldn’t even keep Vettel honest who himself was immediately overshadowed by Leclerc
It’s just a shame Stroll has a bought and paid for seat for life because it would be so good to see Alonso have one last gasp measure against Verstappen
El Pollo Loco
28th March 2025, 23:48
I route for Hamilton and Alonso because I’m exactly halfway between their age. Anyway, there is about a zero percent chance of AMR voiding Alonso’s contract. Max is not a free agent for next year and even if he were, Newey wants to win without Max, at first at least, to show how good he is after Red Bull were trying to marginalize his importance after he left. Also, Aston Martin already knows Lance is not a good look. So, keeping Lance and kicking out FA alone would be absurdly damaging for them.
And, yeah, Alonso absolutely crushed Kimi. He nearly blanked him in both quali and race finishes (and would have if not for a puncture) and almost quadrupled his points. Kimi was actually ahead of Seb for much of their second season at Ferrari together despite SF always favoring Seb in race strategy. People say Kimi wasn’t as good when he returned but he was still young and only been away for two seasons. I love Kimi, but the reality is that the Newey McLaren and Michelin tire combo really flattered him. He was no faster during his title winning year than he was at Renault. Lewis or Alonso in that 2007 / 2008 Ferrari are running away with the WDC.
El Pollo Loco
28th March 2025, 23:48
root for*
Patrick (@paeschli)
30th March 2025, 6:41
What was Red Bull supposed to say? That the car is being built by one guy (who is now leaving) and all their other engineers are useless paycheck collectors ?
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
28th March 2025, 15:34
Fans have this perception that the car is the way it is because it’s been developed towards Max but in reality that isn’t really the case.
They came up with a car concept based on what the data said should be quick and then they developed the car further down that path again based on what the data was telling them would theoretically give them the best performance.
Yes they took feedback from the drivers but they put more weight on what the data was telling them despite the fact that even Max was telling them (And has been since the tail end of the last regulation set) they were making the car harder to drive and less consistent.
And when you go back as far as 2019/20 with Gasly/Albon as well as some of his comments about Perez you see that Max has actually often said the issues the 2nd driver has faced has been more about the car than there ability but fans just always seemed to put that down to him defending the under-performing driver because he’d prefer them as a clear #2 rather than somebody a bit quicker who could potentially match/beat him.
There has also been some speculation that part of the reason Adrian Newey started to think about leaving Red Bull was because he felt issues he could see coming up in terms of the direction of car development were been ignored by the rest of the engineering team because the data was telling them continuing down the direction they were going would bring the best performance.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
28th March 2025, 16:28
I think the truth is there are a lot of pundits out there talking out their bums and taking as gospel all the excuses the drivers/teams come up with.
Truth is when Max isn’t on the podium his #2 will always be far far down the order, and that’s because the #2 was used as a mule car to test tires in mixed conditions, run setups for Max or gather Data. The #2 at RBR has always been an after thought, even during the days of Vettel, it’s just that when the #1 can’t win easily, the #2 doesn’t even have a chance, and when the car is that close to the pointy end, they actually have time to give a guy like Webber, or Perez a chance to get podiums and even wins.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
28th March 2025, 23:42
@pcxmac
See that isn’t really true.
The reason the car ended up suiting Vettel more than Webber was purely because as soon as the various forms of the blown diffuser became the thing the car was designed around the characteristics of the car simply became something that Vettel was able to master and Webber wasn’t.
That wasn’t Red Bull designing the car around Vettel or intentionally looking to hinder Webber. It was purely something done because the blown diffuser offered significant performance gains and was an area of development that everyone was looking to exploit at the time. If Red Bull hadn’t gone down that route sure Webber would have been able to get more out of the car but the car overall would have been slower and those teams who developed the car to exploit the blown diffuser would have moved ahead of Red Bull.
It’s the same thing that happened at Williams in 1992 with the active suspension. Ricardo Patrese never liked the way the active car felt yet Mansell was able to fully maximise it. Again that wasn’t Williams designing the car around Nigel or intentionally handicapping Ricardo; It was purely because the active car was faster and that Ricardo couldn’t get as much out of it as Nigel could was purely a side effect of pushing to get the maximum performance they could out of the car, systems and technology they had available to them.
anon
29th March 2025, 17:21
@gt-racer that post is not talking about the way that Red Bull designed the cars, but talking about the way that the team has structured their operations.
If you look at what they are saying, they were claiming the second driver is being used to collect set-up data for Verstappen or trialling different strategies to see what would be best for Verstappen, rather than what that driver might prefer – i.e. that Red Bull are not interested in supporting the personal development of their second driver or in helping them optimise the setup of their car for their own benefit.
It’s a reference to the statements that Marko has made in the past about Gasly and Perez being told to use Verstappen’s setup as a baseline, with those drivers only allowed to make limited changes from that initial starting point, or Horner referring to using Perez during the sprint race at Qatar to test setup changes for Verstappen’s car.
Now, how you choose to interpret that is another matter, but it does mean that you’re kind of missing the point that other poster has been trying to make in their posts.
MichaelN
28th March 2025, 17:13
Indeed, very true!
It’s one of those myths that refuses to go away because lazy pundits constantly repeat it. Engineers and designers keep telling the world that they make the car as fast as it can be for the most representative circumstances, as best they know how. (For example: Wolff once explained they didn’t really prioritize a track like Singapore.)
What does happen is that every car has certain characteristics, often the result of a specific design philosophy or starting point. Some drivers are better able to cope with undesirable characteristics. That doesn’t mean they like those characteristics, nor does it mean the team is “developing it to their tastes”.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
28th March 2025, 23:54
And the Mclaren is another example of that.
The main reason for Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles with that car was because of the specific characteristics it had which he was simply not able to fully adapt to. Lando Norris been more used to that concept having driven McLaren’s for several years had simply adapted his driving style to better suit what the car wanted although even Lando often said that he wasn’t totally comfortable with it.
bull mello (@bullmello)
28th March 2025, 18:38
Well said @gt-racer
James
28th March 2025, 18:40
Oh the poor thing. Doesn’t have a winning car! Boo frickin’ hoo.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
30th March 2025, 8:53
Right, if the guy isn’t winning by 30 seconds his car must be bad. Lolz. god forbid he has to actually struggle with a car that is just good.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
29th March 2025, 5:25
How can any team state that they’ll have a winning car when most teams don’t deliver one?
All they can promise is our design team is working as hard as possible to develop/deliver one. Whether they can or even have the skills is entirely a matter of wait and see surely.
I’m sure Max isn’t fooled by any of that.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
29th March 2025, 10:10
Maybe maybe not but a team who have done it 8x in the 20 years they have been a team has some credibility.
SteveP
29th March 2025, 11:54
All of those times, one specific design person was there, but now left.
Do they need him? Well, he advised their chosen development direction was a bad idea, and he was right.
Who knows, maybe they will actually go back and follow his advice.
anon
29th March 2025, 17:55
@tonymansell and yet, if we were back in 2004 and had made the same sort of predictions about the future using your methodology of looking back over the previous 20 years, then we should have expected continued dominance from McLaren, with occasional challenges from Ferrari and Williams, whilst Red Bull would have been known as little more than a minor sponsor of Sauber.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
30th March 2025, 8:54
The sooner Red Bull get Verstappen over to Mercedes, the sooner they can develop a good car capable of winning the constructors.
Win7Golf (@win7golf)
29th March 2025, 6:31
Prediction:
Lawson in a Racing Bull, will qualify and race better then the 2nd Red Bull with Yuki.
I don’t think Lawson is any type of great driver, but the bigger problem it’s not the driver, it’s the car.
They made the car to fit one person in the world – Max. I guess it’s in his contract…
They got lucky other teams screw up so much, they won Constructors championships…
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
29th March 2025, 10:11
You know so much I’d definitely bet if I did. I watch live sport to find out and leave predictions to those funding Betfair
SteveP
29th March 2025, 12:01
If you are right, then Tsunoda will fail as badly as Lawson was doing – but they have the advantage of plenty of sponsor money from the placement and the knowledge that he can go out of the door at the same time as the Honda PU and that Lawson gets 22 races in a car better suited to people who aren’t Max and feels better about himself.
If you’re wrong, they get decent points out of the #2 car.
It strikes me that they have a win-win there.
David BR (@david-br)
29th March 2025, 10:10
Red Bull Land sounds a fun place to be right now.