2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[venkyhere]

Well it could have been worse. 3 tenths is a lot but let's hope in race pace Verstappen can match or beat the mclarens.

No chance bro... be realistic. Norris even said in the post quali interview 'we have the fastest race car' when Alex Brundle asked about race pace. Never seen Norris let it slip out like this. The MCL39 is in another league altogether.

Only three corners, to build a 0.3s advantage - T1, T4, T5. The only place where RB21 was marginally better was that Max didn't have to lift for T9 and T14, but the Mclarens were lifting to 90% throttle (if you can even call the 10%, a 'lift').
The only hope for Verstappen is that Piastri and Norris will fight it out for T1 and he might sneak up a place. Even if Max goes to P1, the track will be hot enough to ensure his tyres die prematurely and the McLarens pass him before lap 10. My prediction is that McLarens will gap the competition by more than 30 secs.

[AR3-GP]

Well it could have been worse. 3 tenths is a lot but let's hope in race pace Verstappen can match or beat the mclarens.

No chance bro... be realistic. Norris even said in the post quali interview 'we have the fastest race car' when Alex Brundle asked about race pace. Never seen Norris let it slip out like this. The MCL39 is in another league altogether.

Only three corners, to build a 0.3s advantage - T1, T4, T5. The only place where RB21 was marginally better was that Max didn't have to lift for T9 and T14, but the Mclarens were lifting to 90% throttle (if you can even call the 10%, a 'lift').
The only hope for Verstappen is that Piastri and Norris will fight it out for T1 and he might sneak up a place. Even if Max goes to P1, the track will be hot enough to ensure his tyres die prematurely and the McLarens pass him before lap 10. My prediction is that McLarens will gap the competition by more than 30 secs.

I think there are chances for the competition if the Mclaren drivers tangle, or otherwise compromise each other's races, by racing. We saw that in Australia where both drivers went off the track in the rain trying to outdo one another. Otherwise I do think Mclaren should win.

[ringo]

You’re kind of assuming McLaren to remain a static target as well though. They haven’t brought any “real” upgrades to their car so far, whereas RedBull’s Miami + Imola package was anything but marginal.

They (McLaren) have definitely not given up on this car yet according to rumors, they’re just making sure that what they bring, actually delivers on track.

If I were to guess, they will bring something around Silverstone for their home race, potentially raising the bar.

I'm not assuming that Mclaren are a static target. Rear tire temperature management is a fundamental element which unlocks the setup window. That's why Mclaren can run a small rear wing here. They aren't worried about the rear tires overheating. It's a subtle point but an improvement in this area can be worth more than any aero package that Red Bull brought so far because it changes the way the team can setup the car that they already have.

Too fixated on rear wings and their looks imo. Mclaren advantage today is their downforce in 150-200kph range. All the time loss to Piastri come from three corners of that speed range, all three coming early into the lap - T1, T4 and T7. They gain time under braking in the last part of the braking (200-150) and under throttle in the same range - sing of higher downforce.
The rest of the lap Max matches them, that includes the straights and slow speed corners. Max even gained time on Piastri in the slow speed in the end of the lap in S3. Overheating was clearly not the issue, not for Red bull at least, probably for mClaren, haha.
Max was flat out everywhere though high speed, whereas Piastri lifted everywhere - T3, T9 and T14. Norris lifted even more. I doubt it is a matter of downforce. It's most likely just chassis stability, that affects driver's feel and confidence. Mclaren is such a little short car and driver might be feeling it less stable in such corners, and they of course have every reason to play it a bit more safely there anyway having an advantage elsewhere.
So, Mclaren basically have more downforce in the most important speed range and less drag, as they were a bit faster without the DRS (and even a touch faster with it), - all points at superiority at aerodynamics. And of course during the race it should only grow bigger as Max won't go flat out through high speed and of course DRS won't cover some of the deficits in drag of lesser cars.

Yep, in a nut shell, McLaren has an aero platform control advantage. Redbull is still good in high speed, and probably has peak down force at speed, but has it's little balance issues relative to the McLaren that rides on rails.

[ringo]

This may sound strange, but Russel is the driver that Red Bull need for 2026.
If not Russel then Hadjar for sure. Let Yuki finish the season. I think his troubles will provide good feedback to make a more balanced car for next year. I think his F-1 days are finished, unless he gets a seat at Alpine.

[venkyhere]

Novice Q :
What is the rear wing level difference between McLaren & Redbull for this race ? Is McLaren running a smaller wing (top speed match, hence the Q)

[Cs98]

Novice Q :
What is the rear wing level difference between McLaren & Redbull for this race ? Is McLaren running a smaller wing (top speed match, hence the Q)

McLaren are running slightly less wing.

[AR3-GP]

They’ll probably be back to 4th on lap 1 with Russell up the inside. The starts have not been good all year.

[Sieper]

With this long run up it can be very tight into the first corner. Starts havent been bad always. Not at all.

[euv2]

That 3 tenth gap really put a damper on all RBR fans A strong start from Max would be nice, I'd take a repeat of Mexico 21.

[bigblue]

Yuki/second-driver performance as reported at motorsport.com, skysports.com and the-race.com. Somewhat interesting reads, actually. He's mystified.

The best I can do for Yuki is to note he's not on the latest spec (though that doesn't excuse plumb last), and also what the-race said,

Plus, Spain's been particularly poor for the second Red Bull in recent years - Sergio Perez was six tenths off Verstappen the last two seasons before this.

So, a generous interpretation of Tsunoda's performance is that it is at the worse end of the usual spectrum for Verstappen's team-mate, without quite being a total disaster, and it is the extremely condensed field spread that has exaggerated how bad it looks by turning a deficit that would usually be just about OK for Q2 into an embarrassing 20th.

Still, not looking good Hoping he gets the latest spec in Canada and makes some progress after a couple of weeks off. Assuming he's still got the seat...

[pantherxxx]

That 3 tenth gap really put a damper on all RBR fans A strong start from Max would be nice, I'd take a repeat of Mexico 21.

Or a repeat of 16 Barcelona. Max cruising to victory.

[Sieper]

Fact that Tsunoda struggles so hard here Might give some hope that other places will suit better.

Also, the latest spec he completely wrote a car off at Imola so he has no one to blame for that but himself. Spares are always tight under budget cap.

[organic]

The forecast for tomorrow is cloud cover. That should reduce the track temperature. If not, then it will be similar to Miami.

That would be sensational. Front graining to determine the tyre degradation please and we could win

Weve seen in the past between Verstappen and McLaren that a 3 tenths gap in qualifying doesn't mean the race is a foregone conclusion (Barcelona '24, Austria '24)

Even if McLaren seems unassailable now, I still believe in a title fight

[Sergej]

So tomorrow it will be S-M-S ?

[organic]

They’ll probably be back to 4th on lap 1 with Russell up the inside. The starts have not been good all year.

Or we can hope for fireworks between McLarens. Barcelona has brought the heat before. I see one pushing the other out at t1/2 as quite likely - why not when your pace is extremely dominant?