2025 Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[Sergej]

Monaco. Kerb riding is improved, but McLaren still have the edge on slow corners, in Miami Max had to do a miracle to set a decent S2 through the slow section; the car should be better than last year (which was capable of a P2/P3 had not Max touched the wall on the last lap), but enough to beat McLaren ? the positive is that McLaren duo have limitations in quali and this will be exposed in Monaco, Max could take advantage of this. Should we consider also Leclerc in pole contention ? Ferrari is a dog in quali but Monaco is always special.

[PierreW]

I read so much nonsense from so-called experts and analysts now declaring peremptorily that Red bull was the faster car than the Mclaren in Imola. Those so-called analysts forgot that Max V owned Bottas in Imola already in 2020 having incomparably and undoubtedly slower car. Bottas who was not much slower driver in 2020 than Piastri is now.
On both first two stints it was Mclaren driver who set the faster lap(Norris in the 1st stint, Piastri in the 2nd), despite driving extremely compromised stints, battling with other cars for position, driving in dirty air damaging the tires. So, Max opened up the gap to Piastri who had old tires after the safety car. Then Norris couldn't close that gap after overtaking Piastri, whilst it was clear he never even tried knowing he could do nothing having just few laps left in the race and those analysts say Red bull was the faster car. Nothing, literally nothing suggests red bull was the faster car on Sunday.

I disagree with that analysis.

Piastri tried to catch up Max but ended up losing time and was pushed into a bad undercut attempt and into traffic because he was starting to lose more time on Max.

Norris initially was faster than Max and gained 1s, then started to slowly lose time and McLaren decided to cave in and pit him because Max was starting to get faster than him at the end of the medium stint.

Max also was still gaining on Norris at the end of the race in hard.

Max pushed Piastri into another strategy by being faster, and successfully outpaced Norris at the end of the first stint and the end of the race.

[kurtj]

The car has been bad, pit stops are bad and strategy is failing. This team is failing on all accounts and Horner should resign.

[Cs98]

I disagree with that analysis.

Piastri tried to catch up Max but ended up losing time and was pushed into a bad undercut attempt and into traffic because he was starting to lose more time on Max.

Norris initially was faster than Max and gained 1s, then started to slowly lose time and McLaren decided to cave in and pit him because Max was starting to get faster than him at the end of the medium stint.

Max also was still gaining on Norris at the end of the race in hard.

Max pushed Piastri into another strategy by being faster, and successfully outpaced Norris at the end of the first stint and the end of the race.

Don't underestimate the effect of clean air, both on pace and tyre degradation. Lando ran the first stint in a lot of dirty air, yet he was still able to basically match Max in the latter half of the stint on tyres that should have been worse. If McLaren had been the ones running at the front (as Oscar should have) they would have looked the marginally faster car.

[pantherxxx]

Verstappen has better tyre management than others, and he can compensate for a few tenths slower car, and still win. Tsunoda had worse race pace than Bearman.

[avantman]

Max also was still gaining on Norris at the end of the race in hard.

Norris was never trying to catch him in the end. There was no time left to try and do something. He was happy to finish ahead Piastri. Which is why that stint was completely irrelevant in terms of what could we learn from it. If we discount completely irrelevant final stint after the SC, Norris, despite driving a very compromised first stint, was faster than Max on 24 laps of the race, Max was faster on 23 laps.
When Lando finally overtook Russell, following so closely and taking extra life out of his medium tire, he was 10.7s behind Max. A lap before his pit stop he was 9.7s behind. He set 4 lap times bellow 1:21 vs just 1 lap bellow 1:21 for Max during that chase.

On 2nd stint on hard, both Mclaren drivers were faster than Max, although not as much faster of course as they were in previous races. Piastri of course was fighting through the traffic all the time, which is the only reason why he couldn't close the gap, but he was lapping faster every time he could get into clear air and drive uncompromised lap. This is not my imagination, this is data.
VER vs PIA:

VER vs NOR:


There is no single evidence to suggest Red bull was faster as a car during the race. Only thing we can say confidently is that it was closer than in Miami for sure, but the car wasn't necessarily better/more competitive against Mclaren than in Jeddah, where my analysis shows Max got pole with quite poor lap(by his own standards of course) leaving more on the table than in Imola. So, Imola success might well be coming again just from track specifics, which doesn't play to Mclaren strenghts. So, I once again asking you all not to overreact and wait until Barcelona. Only then we get a better Idea if Imola was another fluke, more of Mclaren underperformance rather than a step forward from the RBR.

[PierreW]

Max also was still gaining on Norris at the end of the race in hard.

Norris was never trying to catch him in the end. There was no time left to try and do something. He was happy to finish ahead Piastri. Which is why that stint was completely irrelevant in terms of what could we learn from it. If we discount completely irrelevant final stint after the SC, Norris, despite driving a very compromised first stint, was faster than Max on 24 laps of the race, Max was faster on 23 laps.
When Lando finally overtook Russell, following so closely and taking extra life out of his medium tire, he was 10.7s behind Max. A lap before his pit stop he was 9.7s behind. He set 4 lap times bellow 1:21 vs just 1 lap bellow 1:21 for Max during that chase.

On 2nd stint on hard, both Mclaren drivers were faster than Max, although not as much faster of course as they were in previous races. Piastri of course was fighting through the traffic all the time, which is the only reason why he couldn't close the gap, but he was lapping faster every time he could get into clear air and drive uncompromised lap. This is not my imagination, this is data.
VER vs PIA:
https://ibb.co/dwBwdSNc
VER vs NOR:
https://ibb.co/4x9LnFS

There is no single evidence to suggest Red bull was faster as a car during the race. Only thing we can say confidently is that it was closer than in Miami for sure, but the car wasn't necessarily better/more competitive against Mclaren than in Jeddah, where my analysis shows Max got pole with quite poor lap(by his own standards of course) leaving more on the table than in Imola. So, Imola success might well be coming again just from track specifics, which doesn't play to Mclaren strenghts. So, I once again asking you all not to overreact and wait until Barcelona. Only then we get a better Idea if Imola was another fluke, more of Mclaren underperformance rather than a step forward from the RBR.

The second stint before the SC isn't really relevant since Max had such a huge lead and wasn't looking to increase anything.

However, what you posted proved that McLaren was forced to pit Norris because Max had put 4 consecutive laps faster than him and it ended the hopes of McLaren to stay longer than Max.

Max pace pushed both Piastri and Norris in the pit by superior pace and that's something that never happenned this season before.

[avantman]

The second stint before the SC isn't really relevant since Max had such a huge lead and wasn't looking to increase anything.

So, the only stint where they were on equal terms literally in terms of tire and clear air was irrelevant. But first and last stint (after the SC) were more relevant? Ok, everyone sees want they want to see.

[avantman]

Max pace pushed both Piastri and Norris in the pit by superior pace and that's something that never happenned this season before.

This is quite literally exactly what happened with Piastri both in Japan and Jeddah. Do you want me provide you the laptime data sheets as well?

[euv2]

Max also was still gaining on Norris at the end of the race in hard.

Norris was never trying to catch him in the end. There was no time left to try and do something. He was happy to finish ahead Piastri. Which is why that stint was completely irrelevant in terms of what could we learn from it. If we discount completely irrelevant final stint after the SC, Norris, despite driving a very compromised first stint, was faster than Max on 24 laps of the race, Max was faster on 23 laps.
When Lando finally overtook Russell, following so closely and taking extra life out of his medium tire, he was 10.7s behind Max. A lap before his pit stop he was 9.7s behind. He set 4 lap times bellow 1:21 vs just 1 lap bellow 1:21 for Max during that chase.

On 2nd stint on hard, both Mclaren drivers were faster than Max, although not as much faster of course as they were in previous races. Piastri of course was fighting through the traffic all the time, which is the only reason why he couldn't close the gap, but he was lapping faster every time he could get into clear air and drive uncompromised lap. This is not my imagination, this is data.
VER vs PIA:
https://ibb.co/dwBwdSNc
VER vs NOR:
https://ibb.co/4x9LnFS

There is no single evidence to suggest Red bull was faster as a car during the race. Only thing we can say confidently is that it was closer than in Miami for sure, but the car wasn't necessarily better/more competitive against Mclaren than in Jeddah, where my analysis shows Max got pole with quite poor lap(by his own standards of course) leaving more on the table than in Imola. So, Imola success might well be coming again just from track specifics, which doesn't play to Mclaren strenghts. So, I once again asking you all not to overreact and wait until Barcelona. Only then we get a better Idea if Imola was another fluke, more of Mclaren underperformance rather than a step forward from the RBR.

The second stint before the SC isn't really relevant since Max had such a huge lead and wasn't looking to increase anything.

However, what you posted proved that McLaren was forced to pit Norris because Max had put 4 consecutive laps faster than him and it ended the hopes of McLaren to stay longer than Max.

Max pace pushed both Piastri and Norris in the pit by superior pace and that's something that never happenned this season before.

Also, GP forced Max to have a gentle introduction on the hard tyres for about 4-5 laps, there after Max was told not push because the gap was simply too big, GP specifically told Max he would only lose 2 secs until the end of the race at the current pace.

There was plenty of Race management going on from Max in that race, because he didn't know how good his tyre wear would be (esp. on the MED) so they were running more on the conservative side (wise considering their other performances) and then because of the large gap.

That's not to say the RB21 was definitely faster, it was very close with the MCL probably only 0.050s in it.

[Vettel165]

I would say Max was quite dominant yesterday on both tyres and slightly faster then Mclaren. But track position is king. I think he could go even faster, the updates helped. But Monaco will be a whole different story.

Lap comparision (Max vs Piastri).

https://en.mclarenf-1.com/2025/gp/s9348 ... s/821-864/

(Max vs Lando).

https://en.mclarenf-1.com/2025/gp/s9348 ... s/821-842/

[avantman]

Tsunoda 1:10s behind Verstappen after lap 44. Extremely lucky with the SC, otherwise he would've been lapped long before the chequered flag. More than 1,5s a lap slower on average. Compare this with the Mclarens. The ease with which they were overtaking cars, sometimes in the middle of the straights. Yeah, red bull was 'definitely' the fastest car in Imola, right.
(yes, I know tsunoda had old front wing and was in traffic)

[ispano6]

Guys help me get clarified with basics of tyre deg :

1. thermal deg = core temp overshoots due to rubber flexing violently due to lateral/longitudinal loading. Is this correct ?
2. graining / blistering = due to surface/carcass temp being not-in-step with core temp, higher carcass temp in case of too much sliding, lower carcass temp in case of too aggressive outlaps on fresh tyres (when the tyres are NOT brought in gently). Which case is blistering which case is graining ? I get confused.
3. lower tyre pressures - what are they meant to aid ? are they going to help reduce sliding (due to more flex) but increase core temp / thermal deg or vice versa ?

F1 tyres are so complex that the basics is hardly basic, it's more like the secrets to how to unlock and maintain the optimal condition across the entire lap.

1. The core tyre temp is affected by suspension set up stiffness, geometry and pressures. It is what I believe Mario Isola refers to as bulk temperature. Thermal deg is what Max had been saying was their issue. The RB21 looked to be run much stiffer than the McLaren at Miami as evident in how much more bouncing and travel the MCL had chasing Max down the back straight. The RB21 looked like it retained ride height and very little travel. That means the tyres are taking the load. This will increase core temps. It also makes kerb riding a lot more nervous.

2. Blistering is due to core tyre temp overheating where as graining is due to overheating of the tread contact patch layer from sliding. Graining can occur due to snap oversteer/understeer, core temps too low that the tyre is not maleable enough for the contact patch to retain optimal grip and thus slides.

3. Yes. Lower pressures mean running the tire softer which increases contact patch surface as it conforms more to the track surface. It has quite a bit of drawbacks though. It can lead to higher surface temps. It deforms the tyre more and can cause standing waves if there is too much lateral load when kerb riding . It can also lead to slightly lower ride height but also plank wear. It also reduces braking response and effectiveness.

[ispano6]

Tsunoda 1:10s behind Verstappen after lap 44. Extremely lucky with the SC, otherwise he would've been lapped long before the chequered flag. More than 1,5s a lap slower on average. Compare this with the Mclarens. The ease with which they were overtaking cars, sometimes in the middle of the straights. Yeah, red bull was 'definitely' the fastest car in Imola, right.
(yes, I know tsunoda had old front wing and was in traffic)

As they say, luck is what you make of it. Maybe it was karma swinging back his way instead of Colapinto (and his fans).

During the Imola race, Yuki and his race engineer Richard Wood focused on strategy and tyre temps. This wasn't a track that a lot of overtakes would be happening and starting on the hards and from pitlane meant that his race was to be a one stopper from the outset. He was faster than Bearman but stuck as the Haas was constantly moving under braking at turn 1. Yuki should have called it out but just stayed in DRS while preserving tyres and not forcing the issue. He probably was a little too conservative but continued to manage his tyres. His engineer "Woody" also said to keep managing.

In particular, they focused on using brake balance offset during the SCs and also certain driving lines to take which they discussed prior to the race. The pass on Nico was likely a result of better tyre prep coming out of the safety car period too. At one point Yuki was asking how to get the tyre temps to show up on the display again.

It's still his weakness in understanding the car and getting it optimal across the entire lap like how Max can for qualifying. He's said he doesn't yet have the "muscle memory" in the RB21 like he had with the Vcarb and that's understandable. But considering he's finished in the points twice starting dead last does show he has the speed and the communication with his engineer is noticeably improving. Yuki does seem to do better when he has a slice of humble pie and drives naturally instead of trying to be a hero. The car improvements should help him take a step back from crossing the limit.

[Waz]

Tsunoda 1:10s behind Verstappen after lap 44. Extremely lucky with the SC, otherwise he would've been lapped long before the chequered flag. More than 1,5s a lap slower on average. Compare this with the Mclarens. The ease with which they were overtaking cars, sometimes in the middle of the straights. Yeah, red bull was 'definitely' the fastest car in Imola, right.
(yes, I know tsunoda had old front wing and was in traffic)

Have to agree with this. It really seems overlooked that track conditions and characteristics were always going to favour Red Bull, plus Max is very good at Imola.

It was actually a master stroke by Horner to plan for the update package to be introduced at Imola. Even if it made zero difference, it would still more likely be a good weekend for them. And the Red Bull board appears to know less about F1 than the average fan on Twitter