Marko shares details of emergency Red Bull meeting following…read more
Helmut Marko has recently shared insights regarding an emergency Red Bull meeting held after the Chinese Grand Prix. The discussion took place following a tough start to the 2025 Formula 1 season for Red Bull, with rival team McLaren performing exceptionally well. McLaren dominated the early races, securing victories in the first two Grand Prix events of the year. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri each took a win, which set the tone for a strong campaign from the Woking-based team.
On the other hand, Red Bull’s reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, managed a podium finish in Australia, but struggled to match the performance of McLaren in China. This prompted Red Bull to call for an emergency meeting shortly after the race in Shanghai to address the team’s performance and formulate a plan to recover their pace and competitiveness for the remainder of the season. According to Marko, the meeting was a productive one, providing a platform for both Verstappen and the engineering team to discuss the development direction of the car and the specific improvements that were planned.
Marko described the meeting as being very positive, as Verstappen and the team engineers were able to align on the car’s future development. Marko emphasized that Red Bull had shown Verstappen the current direction of car improvements and discussed the specific technical changes that would be made to enhance the car’s performance. While the car is currently struggling in terms of competitiveness, especially compared to McLaren, Marko remains confident in Verstappen’s ability to make a difference on track.
The RB21, which is Red Bull’s 2025 race car, has been described by Marko as being both difficult to drive and lacking the expected pace. The car’s setup has proven to be complex, making it harder for drivers to extract peak performance. This was evident in the struggles of Liam Lawson, who has been unable to match Verstappen’s pace in the early races. As a result of Lawson’s struggles, Red Bull has opted to replace him with Yuki Tsunoda for the upcoming race in Japan.
Despite these challenges with the car, Marko expressed confidence that Verstappen would be able to help Red Bull overcome the difficulties they’re facing. He pointed out that, although the RB21 has been slower than McLaren, Verstappen demonstrated in the second half of the Chinese Grand Prix that he can still deliver strong performances when everything aligns. In the latter stages of the race, Verstappen, who was on hard tyres, was able to match or even surpass the leader’s pace. Marko acknowledged that Piastri, the leader at the time, was not pushing hard towards the end of the race, which may have affected the comparison.
Marko’s assessment of the current situation highlights the team’s belief in Verstappen’s ability to extract the maximum performance from a challenging car. The team is working hard to address the issues that have hindered their performance, but Marko’s comments indicate that Red Bull still expects to be in the title fight as the season progresses. Despite the competition from McLaren, Red Bull remains confident in their ability to recover and return to winning ways, with Verstappen playing a pivotal role in that recovery.
