Despite clinching a fourth consecutive drivers title with Max Verstappen, Red Bull are set to lose their constructors crown. Looking ahead to 2025, the Milton Keynes squad have doubts about their development trajectory.
Red Bull expect several challengers next season
After a dominant 2023 campaign, the last twelve months have been far more challenging for Red Bull.
The RB20 started the year with a comfortable advantage, but a series of upgrades from rivals eliminated this early cushion.
McLaren’s Miami updates made an instant impact, unlocking several tenths and forming the foundation for a MCL38 that would soon become the benchmark.
Ferrari have returned to race-winning contention since Monza, whilst Mercedes appear to have overcome their post-summer slump.
To be clear, Red Bull still brought a crucial floor upgrade at the Singapore GP. This change ultimately helped reduce McLaren’s advantage.
However, their general trajectory heading into 2025 is relatively stagnant.
Concerns heading into 2025
Red Bull’s Technical Director Pierre Wache admits there is work to do over the winter:
“I think we are happy with what we have done quickly,” motorsport.com quotes him as saying.
“I’m not confident for 2025. I’m not confident because I think the others are very quick – or are there [in the fight].
“It will be a fight for the full year. If you have confidence in this business, you are dead.
“You have to work hard, and everybody has to, in the team, work hard. Everybody’s working hard.”
Red Bull battle for the fine margins
The good news for Red Bull is that, as F1 enters the fourth year of these regulations, teams are close to reaching the performance ceiling.
Because of this, finding a few tenths of a second could be instrumental. This somewhat alleviates the pressure from Red Bull, who don’t need to find a silver bullet for 2025.
With that said, in the context of their development struggles this year, making any significant progress will be a challenge.
Since their first update package in Japan, improvements have been extremely rare for Christian Horner’s team.
If they are to unlock more pace from their current concept, something needs to change over winter.
Regardless, Pierre Wache emphasises the team are working diligently:
“When you see the number of people we have trying to find a very small amount of performance and add everywhere. It is a very difficult task.
“I have a lack of confidence. Because if I have confidence, you go to sleep, you don’t go to work, and then you don’t find performance.”
