2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

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Lando confirmed my post. Did Red Bull found something in the low-speed, as this was our main weakness last year.

" High-speed we were very, very strong and I think definitely the strongest car out there. Slow speed—we’re quite a chunk off the Red Bull, and that's where we lost yesterday in qualifying"

No that's just Lando deflecting. He gave up 1 tenth to max on the final lap by braking too early for the chicane. Oscar on a previous lap did the chicane at the same speed as max did on his pole lap, so it was in the car.

The McLaren was the faster car on Saturday and Sunday and they got outperformed by Max

The rb21 was strong in qualifying, mostly because yes in the slow speed they were about as fast as McLaren there, not their usual deficit in low speed. But the typical best in class high speed cornering performance was gone. So they're clearly making tradeoffs in the setup

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Did anybody notice who Yukis race engineer was/is?
According to Verstappen Hugh Bird was his performance engineer this weekend.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/max-v ... /10710577/

Iirc hugh bird went to a new role at the start of the season. He is supposed to be the head engineer of the suspension group, or something. Maybe this weekend he had to fill in for someones absence

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Lando confirmed my post. Did Red Bull found something in the low-speed, as this was our main weakness last year.

" High-speed we were very, very strong and I think definitely the strongest car out there. Slow speed—we’re quite a chunk off the Red Bull, and that's where we lost yesterday in qualifying"

In the low speed chicane exit Max could stab the throttle more out of the corners in Q3. That was evident.
Norris is correct here. May well be down to the different PUs and not necessarily the chassis.

Watch the videos again or telemetry on the steepness of the throttle application exiting the chicane.

All of the Q3 loss by Norris at chicane was under braking

[napoleon1981]

What a race by Max, he is buying the team substantial time to get that tractor upgraded. Kind of crazy to think he is only 1 point behind Norris for the WDC after 3 races and a sprint race.

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Now Bahrain: rear limited, high rear tyre wear...doesn't seem the perfect combination for RB21, and McLaren will be able to exploit their superior tyre management, plus Ferrari should bring a new floor. I think we will struggle.

Ever the optimist. Rear limitation is much more preferable to front.

The issue is that keeping tyres cool is a big limitation of the rb21 compared to McLaren, and that is a big part of the race performance at Bahrain

[CHT]

Now Bahrain: rear limited, high rear tyre wear...doesn't seem the perfect combination for RB21, and McLaren will be able to exploit their superior tyre management, plus Ferrari should bring a new floor. I think we will struggle.

Ever the optimist. Rear limitation is much more preferable to front.

The issue is that keeping tyres cool is a big limitation of the rb21 compared to McLaren, and that is a big part of the race performance at Bahrain

did rb21 introduce a new cooling duct for rear tires? maybe they have already make some improvement just playing it down.

[AR3-GP]

Now Bahrain: rear limited, high rear tyre wear...doesn't seem the perfect combination for RB21, and McLaren will be able to exploit their superior tyre management, plus Ferrari should bring a new floor. I think we will struggle.

Ever the optimist. Rear limitation is much more preferable to front.

The issue is that keeping tyres cool is a big limitation of the rb21 compared to McLaren, and that is a big part of the race performance at Bahrain

Its a night race. Not saying it will be cold (though it was in testing..), but there will not be any sunlight to raise the track temp above the air temp. Norris has already suggested that Bahrain would not be one of the best tracks for Mclaren.

[organic]

Ever the optimist. Rear limitation is much more preferable to front.

The issue is that keeping tyres cool is a big limitation of the rb21 compared to McLaren, and that is a big part of the race performance at Bahrain

Its a night race. Not saying it will be cold (though it was in testing..), but there will not be any sunlight to raise the track temp above the air temp. Norris has already suggested that Bahrain would not be one of the best tracks for Mclaren.

Yes but listen to driver interviews post-race from previous Bahrain races and they'll always explain that they drove to whatever pace they could without overheating the tyres. It's a big issue there due to the extremely abrasive surface.

Would not surprise me at all if in Bahrain we have a horrendous first stint again and then get really quick at the end of the race.

Verstappen beat McLaren in Japan because nobody could overtake, not because the car was equal. In Bahrain overtaking is easy and that luxury won't exist. Maybe he beats one mclaren but I find that hard to believe

[AR3-GP]

The issue is that keeping tyres cool is a big limitation of the rb21 compared to McLaren, and that is a big part of the race performance at Bahrain

Its a night race. Not saying it will be cold (though it was in testing..), but there will not be any sunlight to raise the track temp above the air temp. Norris has already suggested that Bahrain would not be one of the best tracks for Mclaren.

Yes but listen to driver interviews post-race from previous Bahrain races and they'll always explain that they drove to whatever pace they could without overheating the tyres. It's a big issue there due to the extremely abrasive surface.

Would not surprise me at all if in Bahrain we have a horrendous first stint again and then get really quick at the end of the race.

Verstappen beat McLaren in Japan because nobody could overtake, not because the car was equal. In Bahrain overtaking is easy and that luxury won't exist. Maybe he beats one mclaren but I find that hard to believe

I'm under no illusions about what happened in Japan. Max stole qualifying and it was difficult to pass. They were not equal cars by any stretch. I'm not imagining that Red Bull will beat Mclaren in some easy way in Bahrain, but they should at least fight for P3 which is good damage limitation and if there are safety cars and other events, then it could go even better.

The more pitstops, the better.

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Its a night race. Not saying it will be cold (though it was in testing..), but there will not be any sunlight to raise the track temp above the air temp. Norris has already suggested that Bahrain would not be one of the best tracks for Mclaren.

Yes but listen to driver interviews post-race from previous Bahrain races and they'll always explain that they drove to whatever pace they could without overheating the tyres. It's a big issue there due to the extremely abrasive surface.

Would not surprise me at all if in Bahrain we have a horrendous first stint again and then get really quick at the end of the race.

Verstappen beat McLaren in Japan because nobody could overtake, not because the car was equal. In Bahrain overtaking is easy and that luxury won't exist. Maybe he beats one mclaren but I find that hard to believe

I'm under no illusions about what happened in Japan. Max stole qualifying and it was difficult to pass. They were not equal cars by any stretch. I'm not imagining that Red Bull will beat Mclaren in some easy way in Bahrain, but they should at least fight for P3 which is good damage limitation and if there are safety cars and other events, then it could go even better.

The more pitstops, the better.

Well given the pit performance in Japan, I'm not so sure.. an extra second per pitstop and incorrectly adjusted FW for Verstappen...

[ringo]

Agreed on P3 being likely if Norris and Piastri maintain their relatively good performance.
The field will stretch and open up strategy opportunities for Mclaren to use both cars.
Redbull could bring Yuki into play here.
The redflags in the last race did not help him in Practice or Qualifying. If Yuki is even up to P7, he can be used to help Max.
I think the car will be easier to drive in Bahrain, but so will the McLarens and this is a sport of relativity.
The Ferraris will also be a threat and Mercedes.
It may be a race of damage limitation for Redbull. But at least the car can be 2nd best if it's setup progressively over a weekend. That's what we have seen in Suzuka.

[Watto]

I still heavily favor Lando or Oscar to win the WDX.


But I think a lot depends if and how well RBR update(s) work i'm very skeptical they are will got on top of their issues. If they had a stable base but needed to add speed I might get i tbut they have thus far still had a somewhat difficult car to drive.

If though the updates work well and its somewhere around the McLaren pace with Oscar and Lando taking points off each other plus perhaps the some wins by Ferrari or Mercedes and I think the Max factor as being very interesting.

If however RBR updates still don't make a big difference than well....


I think all things considered RBR/Max would take being 1 point off the WDC from pre season testing/early form.

[Sergej]

I remain convinced that Bahrain will be difficult, McLaren will be untouchable (I would suggest not to take seriously Lando's PR as we recently found out), and we will have to defend against Merc and Ferrari. Will be a tough test for the RB21.


Anyway
Ted Kravitz: "We know that the Red Bull upgrade package is coming for Imola."

[Vettel165]

If we really improved in the slow-speed corners then Bahrain will be the real test for that… Also our top speed is quite good. Will see.

[r85]

Agreed on P3 being likely if Norris and Piastri maintain their relatively good performance.
The field will stretch and open up strategy opportunities for Mclaren to use both cars.
Redbull could bring Yuki into play here.
The redflags in the last race did not help him in Practice or Qualifying. If Yuki is even up to P7, he can be used to help Max.
I think the car will be easier to drive in Bahrain, but so will the McLarens and this is a sport of relativity.
The Ferraris will also be a threat and Mercedes.
It may be a race of damage limitation for Redbull. But at least the car can be 2nd best if it's setup progressively over a weekend. That's what we have seen in Suzuka.

I agree with most of the points, but won't the field be at its closest for a while in Bahrain? Teams have had 3 days of running on the track, none of the cars have had major upgrades and there's the benefit of 3 race weekends of car understanding they'll be bringing to Bahrain. The pecking order might not change, but if the field is close then I can see Verstappen winning the race through strategy like Hamilton in 2021.