2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[the EDGE]

Even Max is having a dig at Lawson… A bit naughty.

Sadly this video is not available for the geographically challenged. What did Max say?

Q: Are you surprised about the performance of Racing Bulls?

V: I mean, they are doing very well. They are very close to me. Maybe that also says something... but yeah. I don't know.

So honestly no idea if this is directed at Lawson at all. Could also be about the car.

Yeah okay, you could be right there.

But it’s worth noting he looks very sheepish when he says it, I think if it was a dig at the car he might have been a bit more direct

[Dee]

Sadly this video is not available for the geographically challenged. What did Max say?

Q: Are you surprised about the performance of Racing Bulls?

V: I mean, they are doing very well. They are very close to me. Maybe that also says something... but yeah. I don't know.

So honestly no idea if this is directed at Lawson at all. Could also be about the car.

Yeah okay, you could be right there.

But it’s worth noting he looks very sheepish when he says it, I think if it was a dig at the car he might have been a bit more direct

Its 100% about the car.

[DChemTech]

Cant they do a little experiment next race; swap Max and Yuki in FP1. Would be really curious to see how Yuki holds up in an RB1, but also to see what the potential of the RB2 is.

[Zynerji]

Cant they do a little experiment next race; swap Max and Yuki in FP1. Would be really curious to see how Yuki holds up in an RB1, but also to see what the potential of the RB2 is.

This is how you really throw a wrench into the mix.

The 200IQ play for Yuki, however, is to just keep doing well at RB and take Fernando's spot at Aston Martin Honda. I can see Fernando retiring at the end of 2025 if Honda asked him to make way.

Then, Yuki gets to drive the Newey 2026 car with a reasonable shot at the title.

[LookingGlass]

The RB21 reminds me a lot of the AMR24 from last year. Once Newey's influence on the development is removed, the car slowly becomes harder to drive and more unpredictable as the season goes on. When watching the onboards so far this year of Max and Lawson, the amount of corrections needed while driving to keep it on track seem eerily reminiscent of Fernando and Stroll. Like Fernando, Max is putting the car in places most drivers wouldn't be able to while his teammate struggles at the back of the grid.

Obviously Newey is just one of the many pieces in the design and development of a car but makes me wonder how long Max can keep performing at that level before the car becomes too much to overcome.

[Farnborough]

Looking at Sprint times, do the tires simply fall off once Piastri passes Max or is it simply the case that Max doesn't care anymore as gap between him and George is big enough when Piastri gets by? That drop off is like 2 seconds almost immediately. I am still not convinced the degradation is worse than Mercedes for instance but we will see.

Thats one of MV character attributes not often projected.

Really pragmatic approach and application in understanding exactly what needs to be done. He's acutely aware of how much he's taking out of car and tyres in keeping Piastri behind, once past the inevitable it's back it down, stroke it home, avoiding anyone else coming in DRS range ..... bank the points, again, live to fight another day with as many contingency points secure as possible.

The points accumulation consistency is going to pay dividend this year with a varied competitive front running driver group.

[venkyhere]

My gut feel says Redbull should break parc ferme' and massively change the setup on the 2nd RB21 to make it 'slower' by inducing some understeer into the car, that will make it more 'tame'. But it requires the team to step out of their tunnel vision , and understand the needs of their 2nd driver. If they do it, Lawson will be able to redeem himself in the race (by finishing b/w P11 and P14) and then gain enough confidence to push the car to limits in Suzuka and drive it 'properly'. I want to see Lawson finish ahead of the VCARBs in Suzuka. I am partial like that, want to back the underdog. It will be a big story and a juicy episode for DTS.

[Cs98]

I wonder if the car is even faster than the VCARB at this point. Gap back to the lead VCARB has been 2 tenths both weekends. Yuki and Lawson were evenly matched last season in quali, now Lawson isn't even getting out of Q1.

[Cs98]

My gut feel says Redbull should break parc ferme' and massively change the setup on the 2nd RB21 to make it 'slower' by inducing some understeer into the car, that will make it more 'tame'. But it requires the team to step out of their tunnel vision , and understand the needs of their 2nd driver. If they do it, Lawson will be able to redeem himself in the race (by finishing b/w P11 and P14) and then gain enough confidence to push the car to limits in Suzuka and drive it 'properly'. I want to see Lawson finish ahead of the VCARBs in Suzuka. I am partial like that, want to back the underdog. It will be a big story and a juicy episode for DTS.

Understeer? That's the last thing it needs. It's already understeering like a pig for Lawson in most corners. And understeer kills the front tyres which is already the main limitation in China.

[ringo]

I think RB21 is fundamentally Max's DNA down to the monocoque. Setup to be slower may not fix Liam's issues.
Maybe's he's gonna need his own steering rack, power steering, pedals, clutch, PU maps, front wing. Yes that drastic! Cannot underestimate how much of the team's engineering path has been lead by Max since 2018.
The car would be a RB21L. And the team just doesnt have the resources for that.

[organic]

Max says he feels comfortable in the car and can push when he needs to and not make mistakes. So it has to be a significant step in terms of ease to drive over last year. Perhaps Lawson is just suffering under the pressure.

[Jurgen von Diaz]

Max says he feels comfortable in the car and can push when he needs to and not make mistakes. So it has to be a significant step in terms of ease to drive over last year. Perhaps Lawson is just suffering under the pressure.

That is not correct. It's all about driving skills and RB21 is too hard for untalented.

“I think Liam Lawson would go faster in the Racing Bulls car. Our car is extremely difficult.”

— Verstappen

https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsport ... the-vcarb/

[Stea1th]

I think RB21 is fundamentally Max's DNA down to the monocoque. Setup to be slower may not fix Liam's issues.
Maybe's he's gonna need his own steering rack, power steering, pedals, clutch, PU maps, front wing. Yes that drastic! Cannot underestimate how much of the team's engineering path has been lead by Max since 2018.
The car would be a RB21L. And the team just doesnt have the resources for that.

The thing that doesn’t make sense is redbull purposely tested Lawson out and used the same car and setup than had had max do a comparison lap. Obviously what they saw was enough to sway their decision. If he was able to handle the car then, why can’t he now? It’s not like he’s a fe tenths off, he’s completely off and unable to cope.

[f1isgood]

I wonder if the car is even faster than the VCARB at this point. Gap back to the lead VCARB has been 2 tenths both weekends. Yuki and Lawson were evenly matched last season in quali, now Lawson isn't even getting out of Q1.

I think cars are just very close over one lap. Even VCARB is only 4 tenths behind McLaren. This is not surprising in these regulations where even Haas was just very fast over a lap. The top teams also have better race pace for which I am yet to see any concrete evidence VCARB is close to Red Bull tbh. Even the sprint today I think it's not the actual pace of Red Bull. Max eased off quite a bit after Piastri passed him.

[f1isgood]

Max says he feels comfortable in the car and can push when he needs to and not make mistakes. So it has to be a significant step in terms of ease to drive over last year. Perhaps Lawson is just suffering under the pressure.

That is not correct. It's all about driving skills and RB21 is too hard for untalented.

“I think Liam Lawson would go faster in the Racing Bulls car. Our car is extremely difficult.”

— Verstappen

https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsport ... the-vcarb/

I think both of you are correct. Max said what organic said yesterday and what you posted today lol.

It's an interesting car for sure.