{"id":31850,"date":"2025-03-22T07:36:40","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T11:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=31850"},"modified":"2025-03-22T07:56:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T11:56:47","slug":"verstappen-lawson-would-be-faster-in-the-vcarb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/22\/verstappen-lawson-would-be-faster-in-the-vcarb\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen: Lawson would be faster in the VCARB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/14\/max-verstappen-does-not-expect-red-bull-to-fight-for-wins\/\" target=\"_self\">Max Verstappen<\/a> can&#8217;t be faulted for his start to 2025, where he&#8217;s consistently maximised the RB21. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, Red Bull&#8217;s 2025 package is lacking in performance.<\/p>\n<p>Teammate <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/22\/liam-lawson-under-pressure-after-poor-results-with-red-bull\/\" target=\"_self\">Liam Lawson<\/a> is languishing at the back, which &#8211; though not a true representation of the RB21&#8217;s pace &#8211; <strong>still paints a worrying picture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen <strong>believes Lawson would actually be faster in the VCARB<\/strong>, owing to the RB21&#8217;s unpredictability.<\/p>\n<h4>Red Bull deliver Verstappen with another erratic car<\/h4>\n<p>During pre-season, the reigning Champion initially made some positive comments about his new car.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen was optimistic about the RB21&#8217;s handling, which he described as a step forward from its predecessor.<\/p>\n<p>However, <strong>the last few sessions have shown some of Red Bull&#8217;s limitations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In many ways, Verstappen&#8217;s position in the standings flatters Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/20\/hamilton-unhappy-with-negative-media-reaction-to-team-radio\/\" target=\"_self\">Lewis Hamilton&#8217;s Ferrari<\/a> and Oscar Piastri&#8217;s McLaren were one step ahead in the China Sprint &#8211; whilst George Russell was also hunting him down in the closing stages.<\/p>\n<p>Russell&#8217;s P2 in qualifying is a further reminder that Mercedes are legitimate threats.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"D904ZFQKRfF7HLcHru_V0g\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2206171990\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'D904ZFQKRfF7HLcHru_V0g',sig:'zYB3jd8dLdv2QeZVZf-6MiQ2x-3RhLY--qKyh0NL-qo=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2206171990',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Yuki Tsunoda managed to fend off Antonelli and Norris in the Sprint Race. He was joined by teammate Isack Hadjar in Q3, c<strong>ementing VCARB&#8217;s strong start to the season<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Faenza team cannot challenge the front-runners on race day, their one-lap pace is impressive.<\/p>\n<p>The VCARB 02 has surpassed all expectations, both in terms of pure lap-time and drivability.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/21\/tsunoda-has-made-quantum-leap-in-performance-says-marko\/\" target=\"_self\">Tsunoda<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/16\/helmut-marko-not-moved-by-embarrassing-hadjar-tears\/\" target=\"_self\">Hadjar<\/a> have been extremely complimentary of their 2025 challengers &#8211; <strong>which has put them in regular top 10 contention<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the pace VCARB are showing, Verstappen was candid:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I mean they&#8217;re doing very well,&#8221;<\/em> Verstappen told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;They&#8217;re very close to me &#8211;<strong> maybe that also says something<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Lawson would be faster in a VCARB, says Verstappen<\/h4>\n<p>Red Bull have become notorious for producing cars that are something of a handful. This is true from both a driver and engineering perspective.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen is capable of wrestling the RB21 to the front, but the same cannot be said for Liam Lawson.<\/p>\n<p>For much of last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/01\/02\/horner-red-bull-benefit-from-having-a-clear-lead-driver\/\" target=\"_self\">Christian Horner<\/a> emphasised that <strong>making a more drivable car was the team&#8217;s priority<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As it stands, they have failed to make the necessary progress in this department.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen&#8217;s comments certainly paint a rather pessimistic picture:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Are we the fourth [fastest] team? That&#8217;s how it feels to me,&#8221; <\/em>he told De Telegraaf.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I think <strong>Liam Lawson would go faster in the Racing Bulls car<\/strong>. Our car is extremely difficult.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"UeFPB_BPT5pqUxd9uNaucg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2206170467\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'UeFPB_BPT5pqUxd9uNaucg',sig:'Q9Uvsal7ue_SAkOUZCcrDWAsfz0IOT589iCcUaTqPMA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2206170467',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Although Lawson could be under genuine threat of losing his seat, the Dutchman&#8217;s remarks will not be welcomed by the engineers at Milton Keynes.<\/p>\n<p>Having worked extensively on the RB21&#8217;s development, there is still a gap to McLaren.<\/p>\n<p>Even Ferrari and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/24\/george-russell-mercedes-w16-should-be-a-clear-step-forward\/\" target=\"_self\">Mercedes<\/a>, though susceptible to highs and lows, <strong>seem to have more performance at their disposal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The question for these teams, especially Ferrari, is about extracting everything from their packages.<\/p>\n<p>At Red Bull, the pressing concern is that they are hitting the RB21&#8217;s ceiling. As outlined in previous months, the 2026 regulations <strong>are forcing teams to be very selective in their resource allocation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Even putting this to one side, Red Bull appear to be running out of ideas with these regulations.<\/p>\n<p>This seems to be the suspicion of Max Verstappen, whose title defence is looking increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Max Verstappen can&#8217;t be faulted for his start to 2025, where he&#8217;s consistently maximised the RB21. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, Red Bull&#8217;s 2025 package is lacking in performance. Teammate Liam Lawson is languishing at the back, which &#8211; though not a true representation of the RB21&#8217;s pace &#8211; still paints a worrying picture. Verstappen believes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":31851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2452,1755,79],"class_list":["post-31850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-liam-lawson","tag-max-verstappen"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31850"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31856,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31850\/revisions\/31856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}