Red Bull faces challenge as Verstappen acknowledges pace issues

As the Formula 1 circus rolls into Melbourne for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, reigning world champion Max Verstappen has conceded that Red Bull is “not the quickest at the moment,” but remains optimistic that the team can turn things around as the season progresses.

Following a dominant start to 2024, Red Bull found themselves under increasing pressure from McLaren and Ferrari, ultimately surrendering their grip on the Constructors’ Championship while Verstappen fended off Lando Norris to retain his Drivers’ title.

Red Bull for the first time in 3 years arent the favourite for the Constructors Championship opening betting at $7.50 with BetOnline

With a fresh season underway, the Dutchman acknowledges that their RB21 still has room for improvement.

“We’ll try to do our best—there’s not really much more that we can do,” Verstappen admitted in Melbourne.

“Testing is not many days, so we found a few areas we can work on, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

Verstappen, although admitting the car doesn’t look to be as competitive, with top online bookmakers still having him at $5.50 to win in Australia.

The 27-year-old will be partnered by Liam Lawson at Red Bull this year, with the team focused on refining the RB21 and making it “more driveable” than its predecessor.

While Verstappen believes the car is naturally an improvement, he remains cautious about how it will perform on the varied circuits throughout the season.

“I know that we are not the quickest at the moment, but again, it’s a very long season,” he noted.

“If you would have asked that question here last year, then at the end of the season again, it looked completely different, so a lot of things can always change quite quickly in Formula 1.”

With this being the final year before F1’s 2026 regulation overhaul, Red Bull is balancing the need to extract maximum performance from its current package while preparing for the future.

Verstappen remains focused on consistency and minimising errors, as he prepares to defend his title once again in what promises to be another fiercely competitive season fighting Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

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