{"id":32569,"date":"2025-04-09T07:03:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T11:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=32569"},"modified":"2025-04-09T07:31:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T11:31:33","slug":"red-bull-anticipate-mclaren-setback-after-next-flexi-wing-directive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/09\/red-bull-anticipate-mclaren-setback-after-next-flexi-wing-directive\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Bull anticipate McLaren setback after next flexi-wing directive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red Bull<\/a> are carrying plenty of momentum after their Suzuka triumph, with Max Verstappen re-asserting himself as a genuine title contender. The Dutchman’s brilliance, alongside improvements to the RB21, are putting McLaren under pressure.<\/p>\n

After two difficult rounds in Australia and China, Red Bull made a step forward with the RB21 in Japan.<\/p>\n

The team’s extensive set-up work with Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> played a central role in putting the car in a better operating window.<\/p>\n

With that said, Red Bull are also looking forward to a potential McLaren dip – which they are increasingly confident will unfold.<\/p>\n

Red Bull expect McLaren will suffer from flexi-wing regulations<\/h2>\n

It seems like a lifetime ago that the FIA’s clampdown on flexi-wings dominated headlines after Australia.<\/p>\n

Still, the introduction of new regulations to prevent teams from circumventing rear wing flexibility tests should not be overlooked.<\/p>\n

At the time, it was reported that McLaren were among those forced to make adjustments to comply with the FIA’s new tests.<\/p>\n

Whilst McLaren<\/a> themselves denied this, the prevailing belief is that the Woking team have benefited form aeroplasticity and flexibility more than rivals.<\/p>\n

Therefore, some teams speculate that additional FIA restrictions could hurt their performance.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lando Norris and McLaren in Suzuka, Japan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course, the new regulations introduced in China are not the end of this saga.<\/p>\n

Another set of more strict scrutineering methodologies will be introduced at round 9 at the Spanish GP.<\/p>\n

This will be more focused on front wings, something which Red Bull<\/a> believe will negatively impact McLaren.<\/p>\n

According to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, the pecking order could shift substantially:<\/p>\n

“Well look, I mean, in the first three races we’ve [finished] 0.8 of a second behind Lando – We were fourth in China and won this race.<\/em><\/p>\n

“So we’re one point behind in the driver’s Championship,”\u00a0<\/em>he told Channel 4.<\/p>\n

“Don’t underestimate the regulation change of race 9, you know, with these front wings.<\/em><\/p>\n

“That could be a game-changer. The first four [teams] are super tight, and as you well know, there’s no better tonic than a win.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, and Lando Norris, McLaren, congratulate each other<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Red Bull fight to keep Verstappen<\/h4>\n

Horner’s comments are not only relevant for this year’s title battle, but also regarding Max Verstappen’s position.<\/p>\n

The 4-time Champion continues to demonstrate his calibre – making the difference even with Red Bull’s shortcomings.<\/p>\n

In this context, the Milton Keynes teams are aware that delivering the Dutchman a race-winning car is essential.<\/p>\n

If not, rival teams (whether it be Aston Martin<\/a> or Mercedes<\/a>) could try and sign Verstappen after 2026 – when new engine regulations could put Red Bull on the defensive anyway.<\/p>\n

Christian Horner insists that Red Bull can retain Verstappen’s services by improving the car:<\/p>\n

“I think Max has made his position very clear on that before the weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n

“He’s very committed to the team, the environment he’s in. <\/em><\/p>\n

“He’s working harder than I’ve ever seen behind the scenes with his engineering staff.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Max is, of course, the most demand driver in the paddock. <\/em><\/p>\n

“But I think he’s content where he is, we know we need to continue improving – and I don’t see him anywhere else.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Oscar Piastri in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Sam Bloxham\/LAT Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How significant is McLaren’s advantage?<\/h4>\n

For obvious reasons, Red Bull have reason for optimism heading into the Bahrain GP.<\/p>\n

Verstappen claiming victory in Japan, aside from changing the Championship’s complexion, has shifted focus away from the Tsunoda and Lawsons swap.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, Tsunoda’s pace last weekend was promising – even if his qualifying was detrimental to his points on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Assuming the 24-year-old can score points this weekend, Red Bull can depend on a more stable foundation to build upon moving forward.<\/p>\n

At the same time, McLaren’s advantage should not be underestimated.<\/p>\n

The MCL39 is still the fastest car, and they should win races if Norris and Piastri<\/a> execute clean weekends.<\/p>\n

Red Bull’s priority, at least for the short-term, will be to stay within touching distance of the papaya duo.<\/p>\n

Once upgrades arrive to the RB21 in Imola (followed by the FIA’s new flexi-wing regulations), they will try to out-develop Andrea Stella’s squad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Red Bull are carrying plenty of momentum after their Suzuka triumph, with Max Verstappen re-asserting himself as a genuine title contender. The Dutchman’s brilliance, alongside improvements to the RB21, are putting McLaren under pressure. After two difficult rounds in Australia and China, Red Bull made a step forward with the RB21 in Japan. The team’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":32570,"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":[681,2452,78],"class_list":["post-32569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-christian-horner","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-red-bull-racing"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32569","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=32569"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32580,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32569\/revisions\/32580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}