Red Bull is “not confident” for 2025, despite Max Verstappen’s driver’s title

Red Bull admitted not to be confident about its chances in Formula 1 next year, despite the fourth world title won by Max Verstappen in Las Vegas.

After being seriously threatened by Lando Norris and McLaren in a series of races after the summer break, Red Bull was able to solve the issues with the RB20 to unlock the necessary pace and reverse the trend in the last races.

An impressive performance by Max Verstappen in the rain at the Brazilian Grand Prix, set the stage for his victory in Las Vegas, even though he finished behind the Mercedes and Ferrari in this race.

However, although Red Bull has overcome its own doubts to win the drivers’ title this year, the team feels that its prospects for 2025 are not bright, largely because its success this season was aided by a particularly strong start to the campaign.

Asked about the progress made with the RB20 and whether this made Red Bull more optimistic for 2024, technical director Pierre Waché said: “I think we are satisfied with what we have achieved quickly. But I am not confident for 2025. I am not confident because I think the others are very fast or close. It will be a battle throughout the year.”

Pierre Waché considers this lack of trust as an asset, because it pushes the team to excel and further explore the potential of the RB21. If you are confident in this job, you are dead, he explained. Everyone in the team must work hard. When you see the number of people striving to improve performances, even the smallest ones, it is a very difficult task.

An unexpected domination at the start

Pierre Waché admitted that Red Bull’s domination in recent seasons had been somewhat surprising, with the team expecting much closer competition. According to him, this is more due to the mistakes of their rivals than to a revolutionary development of their car.

« What happened this year in terms of the fight is what we expected in 2023, honestly. In 2022, we didn’t start the season with the fastest car, Ferrari had a good start. So, we thought the battle would take place in 2023, but it didn’t happen. And in 2024, right from the start, it didn’t happen either! I can’t explain that. It’s not like we did a better job, but rather that others did a bad job at times. »

Monza: a turning point

Red Bull encountered difficulties in the middle phase of the season, especially against McLaren. But the technical director believes that the turning point came during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where the lack of pace in low-downforce conditions highlighted some previously unidentified issues with the RB20.

Monza was clearly a key moment, a awakening on our side. This highlighted issues with the car that we had not clearly perceived before. What is impressive is how the team reacted to correct and mitigate these issues.

Goals for 2025

By 2025, the main goal is to have a competitive car on a wider variety of tracks: « It is clear that we must have a high-performing car on different types of tracks. On circuits like Vegas, it is not satisfactory. Improving low-speed corners and top speed is part of our priorities. »

A specific area to be reviewed is the philosophy of the rear wings. The lack of an ultra-low downforce setup has left Red Bull vulnerable on tracks like Monza and Vegas.

« Maybe it was a mistake, and it’s something we need to assess. We have to design a better rear wing than what we currently have. It won’t be easy, but it’s a study we will conduct », concluded Pierre Waché.