2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[f1isgood]

Going to need a bit of a miracle this weekend to hold off those McLarens in the race. This track and the heat just plays right into their strengths on tyres and cooling. It’s why I mentioned this track as the most dangerous one weeks ago.

RB need to have a great Friday to Saturday turnaround, and then the cards need to fall perfectly in quali and lap 1. Max needs to lead and Lando needs to be shuffled down the pack, P4 or lower realistically.

I think even if Lando is P4 or lower McLaren have enough pace to catch Max. I think it's more likely that Lando qualifies top 3, Max leads into Turn 1 and all the WDC hopium ends by Lap 5.

I’ve never known Lando to saw his way through a field even when having clearly the fastest car. He’s quite poor at passing early in races. If he gets shuffled down there’s a good chance he will stay there for most of the first stint, and that will leave him with a lot to do in the second stint. He’ll have the pace to catch, but passing is another question.

All this presumes RB finds a better tyre balance today. If it’s as bad as FP2 or last year’s race then defending won’t be feasible. But if you compare the last 4 races to those same 4 races last year it shows that they can find improvement.

While you are right that Lando doesn't have that ability to eat up the field like Max does, I see the pace advantage to be potentially much larger unfortunately. But let us see. As the track rubbers in, the optimist in me says it brings it back to Red Bull and the others but the realist in me says Lando is due for a solid win and Mexico might be it.

I should also add that the fact that Oscar's form has dipped helps Lando significantly. They only have potential to tangle if they're fighting each other.

[Valeo]

A potential P2 with Oscar down in P4/5 would also not be the end of the world.
This would be the toughest remaining race to win if I had to guess anyway.

[Wouter]

https://archive.is/yteKL

Exclusive interview
Max Verstappen on title race, atmosphere within Red Bull, nervous McLaren drivers, image and politics: ‘More is being listened to now’
MEXICO-CITY - Back in the title race and really everyone is feasting on it. Max Verstappen makes the current Formula 1 season incredibly interesting on his own. There is actually no better time for a 1-on-1 conversation with the reigning world champion. An interview about his chances and the relations with the McLaren drivers, but also about the team boss-change at Red Bull, the last mistake he made and the politics.

1 hour ago

You just had another conversation with team principal Laurent Mekies. That's what you do every Thursday, right?

,,Yes, since he's been the team principal here. Then we'll actually talk about everything. So not only about the car, but also about the team and personal things. That's a twenty-minute conversation, half an hour. And during the weekend we talk a lot more of course.”

There is also sometimes whispering: Max Verstappen is half a team boss. Have you been involved in everything much more in the last few months?

“It’s not like I’m doing more. Let me put it this way: I might be listened to a little more. Or more communicated with me. Also from “above.” And that we've been performing better lately is not because of one person. The whole team has an influence on that. There is another philosophy, if you look at finding the right adjustment. And, for example, the new floor that was introduced in Monza has had a positive impact.”


Are you surprised that you are still in the fight at all, paying attention to the lead McLaren has with the car?

“At one point this season I was like: this is not going to be anything anymore. I already entered the season with the knowledge that we didn't have the best car. And now I still don't think so, but we as a team know very well how to maximize. We’ve been adept at that for years.”

Let's put it this way: would this turnaround have been possible without that conscious team boss change in July, when Mekies took over from Christian Horner?

“You can’t possibly know for sure. But I'm just really happy with how everything is going in the team now. Not just with Laurent, but with all of Red Bull Racing. And also the whole relationship between the shareholders in Austria and Thailand. Everyone is on the same wavelength. For such a big brand and racing team, that is very important. Many people knew it wasn’t going well, but it’s not always easy to solve it. I now also go to the circuit with a more pleasant feeling. But the results and the fact that I have a more competitive car, that also helps in that respect.”

‘I’m very happy with how everything is going now, everyone is on the same wavelength’

[Sergej]

It'll all depend on what is the pace differential, if Max leads into T1 and he's only a couple of tenths slower than McLaren, I don't see Lando able to pass him; if Lando's pace advantage is more than half a second then it's another story.

[f1isgood]

It'll all depend on what is the pace differential, if Max leads into T1 and he's only a couple of tenths slower than McLaren, I don't see Lando able to pass him; if Lando's pace advantage is more than half a second then it's another story.

Yeah, Iam worried its the latter. Also it matters where Lando is quick at as well.

[Vettel165]

It could also be the case track will have better grip tomorrow. If they have problems with mediums on high-fuel Red Bull should just start on the softs, take a long first stint. And then when there is less fuel go to medium, or maybe put slightly more rear-downforce on the car. Will see, it is already a bonus that we have at least a shot. Piastri is falling behind the pace, because Mclaren is putting all things into one basket, and thats into Lando. Dont know what to expect, this track should suit Red Bull in the S3 (slow-speed corners) Max is faster then the Mclarens. The lack of grip and sliding around the track could be setup related, or just not being in the right tyre-window at the moment. For now I am confident they will find something, but if not at least they tried. My head tells me Lando will dominate this race, but my inner intuition see a Max domination...

[Henk_v]

RB need to have a great Friday to Saturday turnaround

Even when they dominated they often looked terrible in FP only to miraculously set it on pole and win the race. "Turning the car around" is their thing.

I can see max getting pole and start on softs and mcl mediums. If max can keep them behind the first 1/3 of the race, he can pit when overtaken, undercut. MCL then needs to choose to either pit (too) early for softs or bet on catching up.

[pantherxxx]

Leclerc should outqualify Norris then hold him up. Just like in Austin.

[AR3-GP]

Going to need a bit of a miracle this weekend to hold off those McLarens in the race. This track and the heat just plays right into their strengths on tyres and cooling. It’s why I mentioned this track as the most dangerous one weeks ago.

RB need to have a great Friday to Saturday turnaround, and then the cards need to fall perfectly in quali and lap 1. Max needs to lead and Lando needs to be shuffled down the pack, P4 or lower realistically.

According to my championship simulations, Max can afford not to win here as long as he also prevents Lando from winning here.



It is not too hot at the other races based on last year.




Mercedes expects to be quick in Qatar. I can understand why. It's not too hot.

[Sergej]

They're not touching the hard, must be sure they will do S-M.

[search]

They're not touching the hard, must be sure they will do S-M.

everyone used hards yesterday already. The final set must be kept for the race.

[Sergej]

They're not touching the hard, must be sure they will do S-M.

everyone used hards yesterday already. The final set must be kept for the race.

yeah you're right, I remembered wrong.

[Valeo]

One lap pace is really strong, he set that time some 15 Min ago.
Hope they can sort out everything.
Now race fuel runs

[Sergej]

Max is doing race simulation, better than yesterday but difficult to understand how good it is.

[Valeo]

Some 0,5-0,6 faster than yesterday so far