2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[Vettel165]

Hannah Schmitz, Principal Strategy Engineer of Oracle Red Bull Racing, says after Friday in Qatar: "FP1 was a useful practice session for us, we were able to do some good high-fuel running which was helpful ahead of the sprint tomorrow and the race on Sunday. We also were able to take a look at the soft tyre on low-fuel which will be beneficial."

About the sprint qualifying she says: “Sprint quali, unfortunately, didn't go the way we hoped it would have, so that's something we can learn from for the rest of the weekend. We've got another qualifying tomorrow to make amends and I think we can still have a positive sprint. Having the 25-lap enforcement will shake things up a little on Sunday, as ordinarily you'd want to follow a one-stop here, but it will be interesting to see how each team interprets the ruling."

[venkyhere]

To be honest, the SQ position doesn't surprise me as I half expected this. This is why I keep calling the RB21 a 'lottery car' - setting it up for medium/medium-high/high DF circuits is very difficult, even with the 'working' Monza floor - we saw it in SG, COTA (got it right only after sprint), MEX, BRA etc. The only places they were able to set up well were all lowDF circuits - ITA, BAK, LV. I am sure the car will competitive in Q and Race this weekend, because they have the opportunity to change it after the sprint. But that's pointless anyway as there is 99.99% chance that Norris will be 2 places ahead of Verstappen and thus will eliminate him from WDC battle vide the sprint itself. This track is hard to overtake because the 'distance to use DRS' is very small, so even if the RB21 is good on medium tyres (which I am sure it will be, as it will not be running as quick as it ran on soft, which in turn will mean there wont be as much oscillations) , it's pointless anyway, considering the big picture.

[Valeo]

Still not much changed tbh.
If Max scores a point more than Lando or less in the sprint doesn't mean much.
Unless we see a DNF, tyre failure or something similar for Lando tomorrow or next week, it'll be an almost impossible task

[f1isgood]

Still not much changed tbh.
If Max scores a point more than Lando or less in the sprint doesn't mean much.
Unless we see a DNF, tyre failure or something similar for Lando tomorrow or next week, it'll be an almost impossible task

I think Yuki can do some interesting things to help Max. Max should be able to get Lando. If there is a safety car or the likes he might even fight Piastri. It's not the worst thing in the world for Piastri to be somewhat competitive. I expect him to fall off next week. Piastri always looked good at the same type of tracks Max usually has a leg up on others.

[f1isgood]

To be honest, the SQ position doesn't surprise me as I half expected this. This is why I keep calling the RB21 a 'lottery car' - setting it up for medium/medium-high/high DF circuits is very difficult, even with the 'working' Monza floor - we saw it in SG, COTA (got it right only after sprint), MEX, BRA etc. The only places they were able to set up well were all lowDF circuits - ITA, BAK, LV. I am sure the car will competitive in Q and Race this weekend, because they have the opportunity to change it after the sprint. But that's pointless anyway as there is 99.99% chance that Norris will be 2 places ahead of Verstappen and thus will eliminate him from WDC battle vide the sprint itself. This track is hard to overtake because the 'distance to use DRS' is very small, so even if the RB21 is good on medium tyres (which I am sure it will be, as it will not be running as quick as it ran on soft, which in turn will mean there wont be as much oscillations) , it's pointless anyway, considering the big picture.

They need three full sessions to eliminate all bad setup options and put the car in a good window. They didn't unlock much at Monza except they were able to add much more useable downforce to the car which finally becomes useable across many tracks but still needs time to dial in.

Norris cannot eliminite Max after the Sprint regardless of the outcome. He will be 32 points ahead if Max scores 0 and he wins and even then if Max wins the main race they go into Abu Dhabi 25 points off so as long as Max wins the main race it's fully open.

[f1isgood]

Hope Yuki gets a good start and catches Norris and then keeps Norris at bay. That's the only way something interesting can happen for Max.

[search]

Still not much changed tbh.
If Max scores a point more than Lando or less in the sprint doesn't mean much.
Unless we see a DNF, tyre failure or something similar for Lando tomorrow or next week, it'll be an almost impossible task

I think Yuki can do some interesting things to help Max. Max should be able to get Lando. If there is a safety car or the likes he might even fight Piastri. It's not the worst thing in the world for Piastri to be somewhat competitive. I expect him to fall off next week. Piastri always looked good at the same type of tracks Max usually has a leg up on others.

last year the whole sprint saw three passes, so I honestly wouldn't expect too much. He needs to stay ahead of Antonelli at the start, then I guess 4th is possible.

Rewatching qualifying, I noticed that Norris was among those who went through the gravel in SQ2, by the way, so he may be a bit more likely to affected by the tire cuts than others.

[pantherxxx]

Norris will bottle it as always, Max is just a way better driver.

[ispano6]

Yuki says he was quicker than max in vegas practice i would have loved to see what he could do because that was a major missed opportunity.

Yuki also said he's expecting a podium in his first race for RBR in japan. He also said he doesn't find RB20 difficult to drive when he tested it. Yuki says a lot of things.

He absolutely did not say that, shame on you. He NEVER said "expecting", you've used an unreliable translator.

[Henk_v]

Pirelli noted their tires can't handle gravel. Cuts in the tires have been observed after FP1/SQ.

Last year, 15% of the drivers experienced a flat tire if I remeber well.

That's an added 15% more chance on a verstappen WDC!

[Valeo]

Good guy Yuki

[Sergej]

very good job by Tsunoda

[Valeo]

Yeah can't pass here.
Quali will be very important

[Sergej]

no pace

[euv2]

What a place to have a sprint Just impossible to follow.