Red Bull Racing

A deflated Max Verstappen says Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying shows he’s just “taking part” in this year’s Formula 1 world championship rather than fighting for the title.

Verstappen finished a lowly seventh in Bahrain qualifying after having already scraped through to Q3 alongside team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, with the Dutchman complaining about a lack of grip and brake issues with his Red Bull RB21 car.

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It’s the result the four-time world champion had already been fearing after warning on Friday that Red Bull was nowhere near McLaren’s pace, with Verstappen eventually shipping 0.582s to polesitter Oscar Piastri.

Speaking to Dutch media after the session, including Motorsport.com, Verstappen sounded pessimistic over his world title chances, just one week after taking a stunning pole-to-flag win in Japan.

“McLaren are not my rivals right now. I am just taking part in this world championship,” Verstappen said. When pressed by Motorsport.com on whether he meant he didn’t see himself competing for the actual title, he replied: “No, I don’t.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

At Japan’s low-degradation Suzuka circuit, Verstappen managed to take pole with a magical qualifying lap, while the McLarens slipped up, and was then in a position to control the race. But on the high-degradation, high-temperature Sakhir track, the four-time world champion feels there is no place for Red Bull to hide its shortcomings.

“If you look at the gap to McLaren I’m not surprised,” he explained. “I already told the team during the winter test here that the gap is half a second, and that proves to be the case, so I was right in that respect. If you look at the entire season, I don’t think we ever really had a chance.

“If others make mistakes, like in Suzuka qualifying, then we can be ahead. In Suzuka passing was impossible, but that’s not always the case.”

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As in Japan, Red Bull turned its car upside down overnight to find more performance, but Verstappen doesn’t feel there is anything else the squad could have done to be higher on the grid: “We have tried everything we could on the car and nothing works, so that’s not the issue. If I had to do qualifying again, then I have no idea what else we could have changed. We tried everything that makes sense at this track.”

Offering his thoughts on moving up in the race, Verstappen said: “Lando [Norris] normally just drives to the front, with the speed they have. Of course, there’s an Alpine [of Pierre Gasly] that could drop back, but other than that it will be tough to move up because our pace is all similar. I will do my best, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough for a podium or sixth.”

Photos from Bahrain GP – Practice & Qualifying

In this article

Filip Cleeren

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

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I’m not fighting for the 2025 F1 title, just “taking part”

A deflated Max Verstappen says Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying shows he’s just “taking part” in this year’s Formula 1 world championship rather than fighting for the title.

Verstappen finished a lowly seventh in Bahrain qualifying after having already scraped through to Q3 alongside team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, with the Dutchman complaining about a lack of grip and brake issues with his Red Bull RB21 car.

It’s the result the four-time world champion had already been fearing after warning on Friday that Red Bull was nowhere near McLaren’s pace, with Verstappen eventually shipping 0.582s to polesitter Oscar Piastri.

Speaking to Dutch media after the session, including Autosport, Verstappen sounded pessimistic over his world title chances just one week after taking a stunning pole-to-flag win in Japan.

“McLaren are not my rivals right now. I am just taking part in this world championship,” Verstappen said.

When pressed by Autosport if he means he doesn’t see himself competing for the title, he replied: “No, I don’t.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

At Japan’s low-degradation Suzuka race Verstappen managed to take pole with a magical qualifying lap, while the McLarens slipped up, and was then in a position to control the race. But at the high-degradation, high-temperature Sakhir circuit the four-time world champion feels there is no place to hide for Red Bull and its shortcomings.

“If you look at the gap to McLaren I’m not surprised,” he explained. “I already told the team during the winter test here that the gap is half a second and that proves to be the case, so I was right in that respect. If you look at the entire season, I don’t think we ever really had a chance.

“If others make mistakes, like in Suzuka qualifying, then we can be ahead. In Suzuka passing was impossible, but that’s not always the case.”

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As in Japan, Red Bull turned its car upside down overnight to find more performance, but Verstappen doesn’t feel there is anything else the squad could have done to be higher on the grid.

“We have tried everything we could on the car and nothing works, so that’s not the issue,” he said. “If I had to do qualifying again, then I have no idea what else we could have changed. We tried everything that makes sense at this track.”

Offering his thoughts on moving up in the race, Verstappen said: “Lando [Norris] normally just drives to the front, with the speed they have. Of course, there’s an Alpine [of Pierre Gasly] that could drop back, but other than that it will be tough to move up because our pace is all similar. I will do my best, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough for a podium or sixth.”

In this article

Filip Cleeren

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

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Marko details “massive problem” that caused Verstappen’s Bahrain qualifying struggles

Helmut Marko has revealed a “massive problem” with Max Verstappen’s braking system on his Red Bull which led to a disappointing qualifying, with the Dutchman only seventh on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“It was worse than expected because we changed a few things on the car which we thought would be an improvement, then all of a sudden we had this brake problem,” Marko told reporters after the session.

“It was a massive problem, they could see it on the data, but we don’t know where it came from.”

The Red Bull advisor said that Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified 10th, didn’t suffer any problems. “It was only Max’s car,” he explained.

Viewers heard Verstappen complaining on the team radio about his “terrible” brakes, however Marko said the braking issue had “nothing to do” with the car’s new set-up: “It was not a smooth qualifying, but both cars were in the top 10, so that was a good achievement. And without the braking problems, it would have been P3 or P4.”

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson – Getty Images

Meanwhile, Marko praised Tsunoda’s Q3 performance, noting that the Japanese driver has been “going in the right direction” since his promotion to Red Bull last weekend.

“His first lap was deleted [for track limits] and he still didn’t lose his nerves, he stayed calm, and he was improving continuously,” he said. “That’s what we’re expecting from him.”

The Austrian also praised rookie Isack Hadjar’s “very competitive” performance in the RB. “Points are still possible,” he said of the 20-year-old Frenchman, who will start from P12 tomorrow.

As for Liam Lawson, who was unceremoniously replaced by Tsunoda last week, Marko said he was “slowly coming up to speed.” He curtly added: “Generally that is OK.”

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Emily Selleck

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

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Helmut Marko laments Max Verstappen “massive problem” in Bahrain

Helmut Marko revealed that a “massive problem” led to Max Verstappen’s disappointing qualifying session in the Bahrain desert Saturday night. The Dutchman could only secure P7, and will start tomorrow’s grand prix just one place behind his championship rival Lando Norris.

“It was worse than expected because we changed a few things on the car which we thought would be an improvement, then all of a sudden we had this brake problem,” Marko told reporters after the session. “It was a massive problem, they could see it on the data, but we don’t know where it came from.”

The Red Bull racing advisor said that Yuki Tsunoda, who finished P10, didn’t suffer any problems. “It was only Max’s car,” he explained.

Viewers heard Verstappen complaining on the team radio about his “terrible” brakes, however Marko said the braking issue had “nothing to do” with the car’s new set-up. “It was not a smooth qualifying, but both cars were in the top 10, so that was a good achievement,” he continued. “And without the braking problems, it would have been P3 or P4.”

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson – Getty Images

Meanwhile, Marko praised Tsunoda’s Q3 performance, noting that the Japanese driver has been “going in the right direction” since his promotion to Red Bull last weekend. “His first lap was deleted [for track limits] and he still didn’t lose his nerves, he stayed calm, and he was improving continuously,” he said. “That’s what we’re expecting from him.”

The Austrian also praised rookie Isack Hadjar’s “very competitive” performance in the RB. “Points are still possible,” he said of the 20-year-old Frenchman, who will start from P12 tomorrow.

As for Liam Lawson, who was unceremoniously replaced by Tsunoda last week, Marko said he was “slowly coming up to speed.” He curtly added: “Generally that is OK.”

Photos from Bahrain GP – Practice & Qualifying

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Emily Selleck

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

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Red Bull claims McLaren is too quick after dominant Friday at Bahrain GP

on 11 April 2025

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner fears McLaren is “a few tenths” too quick for any of its rivals in Bahrain, with a repeat of Max Verstappen’s outstanding Suzuka victory unlikely.

Oscar Piastri topped McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in Friday’s second practice session, with the pair half a second clear of Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

Having sat out FP1 to give Red Bull reserve Ayumu Iwasa an outing, Verstappen was seventh – eight tenths behind – with Yuki Tsunoda down in 18th after conducting set-up experiments.

According to team boss Horner, McLaren is a class apart this weekend as the hot and abrasive Bahrain circuit looks set to favour the papaya squad.

“We’ve got quite a bit to do tonight, I think,” Horner told Viaplay. “The McLarens look very, very quick. With Mercedes and Ferrari it all looks pretty close, but McLaren definitely look like they have a few tenths on the rest of the field.

“First of all, we’ve got to understand how we can improve what we have, which is mainly temperature-related, I think.”

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Red Bull overhauled its set-up last weekend in Japan after a similarly difficult Friday to give Verstappen a shot at taking an outstanding pole, but Horner fears Bahrain’s more abrasive layout will reward McLaren’s better tyre usage and make it harder to keep faster cars at bay in the race.

“It is impossible to repeat what he did last week over a single lap and then holding the cars behind for an entire grand prix,” Horner cautioned. “This is a track you can overtake at relatively easily, so a lot of work to do with the engineers tonight.”

Not just engine modes

Speaking to Autosport, the team’s advisor Helmut Marko painted a similar picture, and while Red Bull tends to run with less powerful engine modes in practice he said the squad’s deficit went well beyond that.

“We are too slow and the tyres are becoming far too hot,” the Austrian said. “It’s basically confirming what Max already said yesterday, that Bahrain will be a more difficult one for Red Bull.

“The main problem is the tyre temperature, which we can’t keep under control. And as soon as the temperature goes up, we are sliding, which makes it worse.

“Strangely enough, at one stage the tyre recovered and we were doing the same lap times as Lando, but that was only three or four laps out of 15. This track just doesn’t suit us and neither do these high temperatures.”

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Filip Cleeren

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing

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Impossible for Verstappen to repeat Suzuka heroics in Bahrain

on 11 April 2025

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner fears McLaren is “a few tenths” too quick for any of its rivals in Bahrain, with a repeat of Max Verstappen’s outstanding Suzuka victory unlikely.

Oscar Piastri topped McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in Friday’s second practice session, with the pair half a second clear of Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

Having sat out FP1 to give Red Bull reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa an outing, Verstappen was down in seventh – eight tenths behind – with Yuki Tsunoda down in 18th after conducting set-up experiments to help the Japanese driver settle.

According to team boss Horner, McLaren is a class apart this weekend as the hot and abrasive Bahrain circuit looks set to favour the papaya squad.

“We’ve got quite a bit to do tonight, I think,” Horner told Viaplay. “The McLarens look very, very quick. With Mercedes and Ferrari it all looks pretty close, but McLaren definitely look like they have a few tenths on the rest of the field.

“First of all, we’ve got to understand how we can improve what we have, which is mainly temperature-related, I think.”

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Red Bull overhauled its set-up last weekend in Japan after a similarly difficult Friday to give Verstappen a shot at taking an outstanding pole, but Horner fears Bahrain’s more abrasive layout will reward McLaren’s better tyre usage and make it harder to keep faster cars at bay in the race.

“It is impossible to repeat what he did last week over a single lap and then holding the cars behind for an entire grand prix,” he cautioned. “This is a track you can overtake at relatively easily, so a lot of work to do with the engineers tonight.”

Not just engine modes

Speaking to Motorsport.com, the team’s advisor Helmut Marko painted a similar picture, and while Red Bull tends to run with less powerful engine modes in practice he said the squad’s deficit went well beyond that.

“We are too slow and the tyres are becoming far too hot,” the Austrian concluded. “It’s basically confirming what Max already said yesterday, that Bahrain will be a more difficult one for Red Bull. The main problem is the tyre temperature, which we can’t keep under control. And as soon as the temperature goes up, we are sliding, which makes it worse.

“Strangely enough, at one stage the tyre recovered and we were doing the same lap times as Lando, but that was only three or four laps out of 15. This track just doesn’t suit us and neither do these high temperatures.”

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Filip Cleeren

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing

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Storm brewing? Will rivals McLaren be dragged into a technical row with Red Bull?

on 11 April 2025

This time Max Verstappen did not bite and instead chose his words carefully.

Having been punished to do ‘some work of public interest’ for giving his forthright views in a televised press conference in Singapore last year, the F1 world champion was not going to make the same mistake again. Back then, he was slapped with community service for swearing, which ultimately saw him hauled to Rwanda ahead of the FIA prize-giving ceremony last December.

Instead, this time he put it diplomatically and succinctly when he was asked about his thoughts about McLaren’s rear wing flexing during the Japanese GP.

“I’m not disappointed in that. Everyone is trying to do their best and some people read the regulations a bit differently”, he said during his Dutch media session at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Thursday. “I don’t make the rules. And I’m also not the one enforcing them either.”

The subject was raised again after a video emerged on X (Twitter) showing clips of the McLaren rear wing during the Japanese GP, which appears to flex under load. For context, a video of the Red Bull rear wing is also attached to the short clip, but does not flex to the same extreme.

There were no technical infringements picked up by the FIA’s scrutineering at Suzuka and while the short video is hardly conclusive, there is perhaps more to it than what Verstappen is making out, especially since the video was reposted by his dad, Jos Verstappen.

On the surface, it seems as though Verstappen is attempting to brush off the concerns. He even trotted out the line, “it’s up to the FIA to decide what is allowed”, as he volleyed the ball into the governing body’s court.

But is there is more to read in between the lines?

Indeed, the timing of his swearing outburst last year in Singapore is poignant as it centred on a brewing row between Verstappen’s Red Bull team and McLaren over a claim the latter was benefiting from a ‘mini-DRS’ which allowed for a degree of drag reduction at speed.

Back then, McLaren’s rear wing has been under the spotlight since the Azerbaijan GP last year, yet it came to a head at the race in Singapore — before Verstappen swore and the focus was shifted on the the Dutchman and his ludicrous punishment.

The FIA has since issued a new Technical Directive [TD] (ahead of the Australian GP) with regard to rear wings. The governing body made an even stricter clampdown at the Chinese GP, cutting down the tolerance from 0.5mm to 0.25mm on a vertical load bearing test on 75kg on the mainplain. For context, last year, the maximum slot gap was 2mm.

Motorsport.com understands that the FIA are aware of the video on social media and while there has been no official comment from the governing body, the rear wing will come under intense scrutiny in Bahrain.
And with a new TD not being issued until the Spanish GP in June, it could come to a head this weekend, only Verstappen will not be doing the finger-pointing.

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Ben Hunt

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

McLaren

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Why Verstappen fears “severe” tyre deg deficit to McLaren in Bahrain

on 10 April 2025

Although Max Verstappen chalked up a decisive victory over the McLarens at last week’s Japanese Grand Prix, he believes the higher-degradation properties of the Bahrain circuit will ensure Red Bull is in for a much tougher weekend.

It has been well documented that McLaren’s MCL39 has an advantage over its rivals regarding tyre degradation over a race stint, with the first clues of the team’s prowess on a longer stint emerging in the pre-season test at Bahrain; estimates put its per-lap advantage over the rest of the field at around 0.4s on average over a stint.

Due to low levels of degradation at Suzuka, Red Bull’s disadvantage to McLaren was significantly mitigated. The resurfaced track cut the tyre wear significantly, with tyres largely only limited by thermal degradation at the rear – which did not end up making much of an impact.

But Bahrain has a very different surface, given that it remains unchanged since the circuit was opened for use in 2004. High roughness and warm temperatures, even at night, means that the drivers will have to work very hard to maintain tyre life over a stint. This won’t be particularly easy to achieve, even with the hardest trio of Pirelli compounds – the C1-3 constructions.

Verstappen expects a “severe” deficit to McLaren, and reckoned that he was even conferred a small tyre preservation deficit versus the Woking squad at Suzuka on the opening stint, but it was difficult to notice given Lando Norris could not pass.

“It will be more severe. The first stint in Australia we got destroyed also with the overheating, and the same in China,” Verstappen said.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Clive Mason/Getty Images

“I would say to a certain extent also in Suzuka, but you can’t pass because Lando was closing up to me in the end of that first stint again. I was just driving to my own pace, but I think because the track temp dropped quite a bit, on the day that helped a bit.

“Here, it’s going to be hot. We drive in the night, so it’ll cool down a little bit, but it’s still hot – with aggressive tarmac.

“On paper from what we’ve seen so far this season, that’s not ideal for us compared to McLaren. But it’s up to us of course to try and find those improvements in the car or tyre behaviour and go from there.”

Last season’s grand prix in Bahrain was a two-stopper for most – although a handful of drivers cast out of the reckoning attempted to salvage something from their races with three stops. Pirelli’s revised C2 and C3 compounds are also marginally softer compared to last season’s constructions.

The tyre company estimates in its pre-round preview that, even with softer constructions, the C2 could prove to be a much stronger race tyre and potentially offer some teams a way into a one-stop strategy.

But this would depend largely on thermal degradation of the tyre; managing blistering through the stints will be a key mechanic over the course of a grand prix. Furthermore, track conditions over the Bahrain Grand Prix will be hotter compared to testing.

It’s very plausible that, if left unchecked, the stint delta between teams could escalate as a result depending on progress between the February prelude and today. To keep that in check, tyre pressures have also been raised by 0.5psi versus the pre-season test to mitigate the effect of increased wear throughout the race.

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Jake Boxall-Legge

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

McLaren

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“Incredible” how Verstappen can cope with Red Bull F1 car set-up

on 10 April 2025

Yuki Tsunoda says that he gravitated more towards Max Verstappen’s set-up in his first Formula 1 weekend with Red Bull in Japan, and reckoned it was “incredible” how the four-time world champion could work with it.

After his debut with the RB21, Tsunoda noted that there were clear differences between the car on track and in the simulator, but had otherwise looked at home with the team before missing the tyre warm-up window in Q2. This led to him only qualifying 15th – lining up 14th when Carlos Sainz took a penalty.

Tsunoda explained that, because of his limited experience and running with the car thanks to a series of interrupted practice sessions, he ended up tweaking his set-up to move more towards how Verstappen likes his car – adding that he was generally happy to make the switch.

The Japanese driver revealed that he tried Verstappen’s full set-up in the simulator and was impressed at how the four-time champion could hang on to it, but stated that the team knew it wasn’t the way to develop the car.

“In terms of how I got on in the car, it’s still OK, it’s too early stages to say I’m able to drive comfortably or not. But I think I’m able to cope with the car balance that most drivers struggle with so far,” Tsunoda explained.

Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Jayce Illman – Getty Images

“Actually, we went to Max’s side rather than my set-up, which I thought would be good. Surprisingly, I’m able to drive quite well so I’m happy with it so far.

“The direction we tried in the simulator, which was a bit different [from] China to focus on calming down the rear, and the set-up we concluded in the end I felt was good.

“Also, Max felt pretty positive in the simulator, so in the end, also Max started with that direction which I quite liked as well already at Suzuka. I went for a more extreme side in that direction and it just didn’t work out.

“It’s not like the set-up that Max used in China; China was a bit more specific because it was more front-end limitation. But Max’s set-up helps [the rear] and I think that set-up probably in the simulator I feel definitely the trickiness.

“It’s incredible how he’s able to cope with that kind of set-up.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andrej Isakovic – AFP – Getty Images

Tsunoda also explained that the other difference between Red Bull and Racing Bulls was in how it coaches the drivers for preparing the tyres for a qualifying lap.

He reckoned that his former team was more willing to feed back to the drivers with information on what to do in a warm-up lap, while Red Bull is more willing to put the onus on the driver.

“It’s a different approach,” said Tsunoda. “I feel like VCARB will tell us how to do it, and Red Bull is more like they can adjust it from the out lap. It’s quite a different approach there and I wouldn’t say which is better or not, to be honest.

“There are a couple of things that feel like VCARB has an easier approach for the driver, more than Red Bull. But I think Max has had that approach for nine years, so he’s just able to naturally do it.

“I probably have a little bit of digging to work out what kind of approach I should take, and it’s an ongoing process, how we can do better as a team to make it a little bit easier.”

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Jake Boxall-Legge

Formula 1

Max Verstappen

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing

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‘Incredible how Verstappen can cope with it’