Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has backed Max Verstappen’s suggestion that Liam Lawson would currently be faster in a Racing Bulls car.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has backed Max Verstappen’s suggestion that Liam Lawson would currently be faster in a Racing Bulls car.
Max Verstappen has hinted at having an announcement on Instagram. Something special is in the making for the Japanese Grand Prix by the Red Bull Racing driver.
Max Verstappen has a very particular driving style and setup preferences, which often differ significantly from those of his teammates. This makes it especially challenging for others to adapt to the car alongside him. However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner sees no issue with this, stating that it is only natural for the team to prioritise Verstappen’s preferences.
The first day of the Sprint weekend in Shanghai started with a very strong first session for McLaren, that showed a great performance both in terms of race pace and qualifying simulations. Despite this, Hamilton grabbed pole for the Sprint in the afternoon, proving that the SF-25 performance hasn’t been affected at all by the new technical directive introduced this weekend.
The Australian Grand Prix weekend offered a complete look of what’s Red Bull real performance across every condition on a specific track like Albert Park. The RB21, despite being ‘much calmer’ than the RB20, as defined by Horner, still lacks speed compared to McLaren and it’s also very difficult for engineers to find the right setup that makes the car enter its operating window. Let’s try to understand why.
The first Grand Prix of the year offered a very similar scenario to the one we already saw, even if it was well hidden during testing in Bahrain. McLaren looked unbeatable for every team both during Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race, where the MCL39 was able to be the quickest on every compound (both dry and wet) and in every condition. Let’s try to understand the reason behind this success.
In an unpredictable Australian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen did the best he could with the RB21. The McLarens were too dominant and had an advantage on more than one part compared to Red Bull Racing. But how does the Verstappen look back on this race?
Lando Norris nearly led every lap at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, and manage to bring home the MCL39 in first place this Sunday. McLaren at one point had quite a huge gap, but Max Verstappen was right behind the Briton once they crossed the finish line. Andrea Stella explained how Norris and Verstappen’s performance compared.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start the Australian Grand Prix from P1 and P2, respectively. However, team principal Andrea Stella is not entirely confident due to the weather forecast for Sunday’s Grand Prix. In dry conditions, as shown in qualifying, he is confident in the McLaren’s pace, but in the rain, there is a different danger.
Sunday marks the first Grand Prix of the season, and after an exciting qualifying session, along with the possibility of some rain, it promises to be a spectacle. This is the provisional starting grid for the 2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix.
