{"id":34566,"date":"2025-06-01T05:32:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T09:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=34566"},"modified":"2025-06-01T05:32:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T09:32:18","slug":"verstappen-red-bull-not-fast-enough-to-match-mclaren-in-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/06\/01\/verstappen-red-bull-not-fast-enough-to-match-mclaren-in-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen: Red Bull &#8220;not fast enough&#8221; to match McLaren in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the first eight rounds of the year, Red Bull spoke more than anyone else about <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/27\/verstappen-red-bull-reveals-hopes-for-spain-technical-directive\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">this weekend&#8217;s technical directive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Milton Keynes squad were adamant that harsher flexi-wing restrictions would eat into McLaren&#8217;s advantage.<\/p>\n<p>Christian Horner even revealed that Red Bull&#8217;s objective was to stay within 25 points of the Championship lead after Monaco &#8211; anticipating they would become more competitive in Spain.<\/p>\n<p>First conclusions about the full impact of this new directive cannot be made until after today&#8217;s Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the first indications suggest that Max Verstappen still lacks the machinery to fight <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/30\/mclaren-downplay-impact-of-new-flexi-wing-restrictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">McLaren<\/a> on a level playing field.<\/p>\n<h2>Verstappen settles for third in Spain qualifying<\/h2>\n<p>Ironically, qualifying for the Spanish GP was the biggest difference between Pole Position and second place.<\/p>\n<p>The gap was still relatively small, just over two tenths. Regardless, this statistic exemplifies the negligible impact of the flexi-wing clampdown so far this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>McLaren remain the fastest car, even at a circuit that is better suited to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/29\/yuki-tsunoda-explains-learning-process-in-rb21\/\" target=\"_self\">RB21<\/a> than previous races.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"NCU93G-3RfBPvXExL-j2PQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2217940679\" 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:'NCU93G-3RfBPvXExL-j2PQ',sig:'zerX6ZAota357x5Iftth5F2PEgmAyCmEhtgYzB8Lrxo=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2217940679',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Verstappen was always a few steps behind <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/16\/mclaren-ready-for-challenge-of-norris-and-piastri-title-fight\/\" target=\"_self\">the McLaren duo<\/a> in qualifying, which is becoming an increasingly familiar story.<\/p>\n<p>The good news for the Dutchman, as he pointed out in his post-qualifying interviews, is that he is within striking range of making a move into Turn 1.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, Verstappen admits that Red Bull were fundamentally not fast enough on Saturday:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;It was fine, I think it was consistently the same delta behind. So [in] Q1, Q2, Q3.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Just my first one in Q3 was a bit more difficult because we tried a different out-lap approach and that didn&#8217;t work.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But yeah, clearly just lacking a bit too much. Sector 1 was quite tough. Turn 1 was never really good, even though I tried different approaches<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;But just didn\u2019t seem to find the grip there. The rest\u2026 It was fine. The car was in a decent window.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Unfortunately, not fast enough, but I had fun out there.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Red Bull hope to capitalise on strategic flexibility<\/h4>\n<p>There have only been a few races this year where tyre degradation has forced teams into making multiple stops.<\/p>\n<p>Even at circuits that are traditionally harsh on tyres, such as China, the one-stop was the best strategy.<\/p>\n<p>This is the consequence of Pirelli&#8217;s tyres &#8211; especially the hards &#8211; being capable of completing the majority of the race.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"887L6HStSlBQKV9GHFQsTA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2217967891\" 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:'887L6HStSlBQKV9GHFQsTA',sig:'0Me9FCWrulLdrkcNYWlHRXx9jdhPG7vmdaM3M4wh7Wo=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2217967891',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>At the Spanish GP, things should be slightly different. Although the hard tyres can still complete a significant portion of the race distance, they are much slower than the softs and mediums.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, completing just one stop with hard tyres could be slower than a two-stop using softs and mediums.<\/p>\n<p>Moving forward, Pirelli are considering bringing hard compounds that are two steps harder than the mediums &#8211; to create a bigger delta.<\/p>\n<p>Returning to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/25\/max-verstappen-admits-red-bull-lack-pace-after-monaco-qualifying\/\" target=\"_self\">Verstappen and Red Bull<\/a>, the prospect of multiple pit-stops in Barcelona will be welcome news.<\/p>\n<p>Strategic variety can offer the kind of unpredictability and complications to help counteract McLaren&#8217;s advantage.<\/p>\n<p>Putting strategy to one side, Red Bull could yet find themselves within touching distance of McLaren on race day.<\/p>\n<p>At the very beginning of the season, one of the MCL39&#8217;s main strengths was tyre conservation.<\/p>\n<p>In Imola, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/06\/christian-horner-mclaren-on-another-planet-in-miami\/\" target=\"_self\">Christian Horner&#8217;s team<\/a> were able to match the reigning Champions in this area.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, especially in the wake of the technical directive, there are still questions to be answered at today&#8217;s Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Main photo: Mark Thompson\/Getty Images (via Red Bull content pool)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the first eight rounds of the year, Red Bull spoke more than anyone else about this weekend&#8217;s technical directive. The Milton Keynes squad were adamant that harsher flexi-wing restrictions would eat into McLaren&#8217;s advantage. Christian Horner even revealed that Red Bull&#8217;s objective was to stay within 25 points of the Championship lead after Monaco [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":34567,"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":[2452,79,78],"class_list":["post-34566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-max-verstappen","tag-red-bull-racing"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34566","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=34566"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34571,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34566\/revisions\/34571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}