Red Bull struggles during Friday’s Australian GP practice marked a rocky start to the 2025 F1 season with Max Verstappen claiming the RB21 lacks outright pace.
Reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen, who has dominated the sport in recent years, found himself grappling with a lack of pace and handling issues in the team’s new RB21.
The disappointing Red Bull struggles with performance throughout Friday’s Australian GP practice have raised concerns within the camp and cast doubt on their ability to compete at the front of the grid this weekend.
During FP1, Verstappen managed to secure fifth place but his teammate Liam Lawson was far down the order in 16th. FP2 painted an even bleaker picture for the team with the Dutchman slipping to seventh and his teammate finishing a distant 17th.
Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the timing sheets in FP2 followed closely by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Verstappen’s deficit to Leclerc was a staggering six-tenths of a second, highlighting just how far Red Bull is from challenging for pole position or victory under normal conditions.
The RB21 appears to be plagued by fundamental issues that are proving difficult to resolve. Verstappen himself has admitted that Red Bull struggles “a bit to fight up front”, however, he was skeptical the problems will be fixed overnight.
“Today the grip wasn’t great and we were struggling on all four tyres, particularly in sector one and the final sector,” the four-time world champion said. “It feels like we are not up there at the moment but we will work to find more pace.
“The problem is that it’s not really like I have major balance problems. I think it will be a bit hard to fix, but it’s also nothing that I didn’t expect when I arrived here – so I’m not positively or negatively surprised with the pace that we are showing.
“We’ve never really been that good here, since that new tarmac got paved – so for sure it’s it’s not really helping. But still, it’s the same for everyone, so we just have to make sure that we find a bit more pace but, at the moment, we are definitely lacking a bit to fight up front.”
Veteran F1 analyst Martin Brundle noted the Red Bull struggles at Australian GP practice particularly after Verstappen battled against handling issues during FP2, describing moments where the car’s rear end slid out dramatically through high-speed corners.
“The car that I’ve seen struggle most through here was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull actually,” Brundle said. “He had a massive swapper in the middle and really had to hoover the car up.
“It looked a little bit better that time, but it was still slightly loose at the back of the car.”
Red Bull struggles started way back during F1 Bahrain pre-season testing, hinting at potential weaknesses in the RB21. Despite implementing numerous upgrades, including a new floor design specifically for Melbourne, these changes have not yielded significant improvements.
One of the more concerning aspects of the team’s performance struggles is their inability to pinpoint specific areas for improvement.
Verstappen stated that there were no major balance problems with the car but admitted that finding additional speed would be challenging. His teammate Lawson echoed similar sentiments, describing his struggles as stemming from a general lack of grip rather than any identifiable mechanical issue.
“I felt comfortable in the car today, but it just wasn’t fast enough, so we have a lot of work to do overnight,” the New Zealander said amid a close call during FP1. “Day one on a new track you are expecting to have work to do but not this much.
“We can’t really pinpoint why it’s been tricky out there so far, if we knew we could fix it a lot quicker. We need to pick it up on short run pace, but the long run pace wasn’t great either, so yeah, a lot to do.
“So, it will be a challenge for the Team, but we will aim to improve for tomorrow.”
Despite the Red Bull struggles proving hard to fix, the team remains hopeful that Sunday’s forecast rain could level the playing field.
Wet conditions often introduce unpredictability into races and could allow Verstappen to leverage his skill in extracting maximum performance from suboptimal machinery.
However, relying on external factors like weather highlights just how precarious Red Bull’s position is heading into the 2025 F1 season opener.
