Written by Isabel Jane Caporaso, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
After two years of pure dominance, the 2024 season saw Formula One’s front runners dethroned. Despite the drop-off in performance, Max Verstappen collected enough points to win the driver’s championship, with Red Bull ending 77 points off winners McLaren in third. It remains to be wondered if their impending crises will persist into 2025.
Ever since F1’s ground effect regulations were introduced, Red Bull managed to crack the perfect formula, putting together a record-breaking machine that proved class of the field in both 2022 and 2023, breaking some of Formula One’s most impressive records.
It all started when in 2022, Adrian Newey, the now departed chief technical officer, introduced an innovative design for the RB18, featuring tunnels with a higher and more domed roof around the choke point, followed by a flat floor section with sharp transitions, which energised airflow at critical points within the tunnels.
This approach led to a strong start in the new era of Formula One, securing both drivers and constructors' championships. The 2023 season is when true supremacy was established. The team won 21 out of 22 races, marking the most dominant season in Formula One’s history. However, towards the end of the season, the inconsistent downforce became a true struggle, promptly fixed with a shrunken cooling package in the side pods that channelled the airflow more efficiently.
Following two extremely successful seasons, Red Bull encountered several difficulties, some of which have slid into 2025 as well. The many problems encountered in the last season are detectable across different areas.
The technical difficulties
The opening half of the season was impressive, it looked like the outstanding performance sustained by the team the past season would persist. The initial strength displayed was a consequence of different remarkable innovations, such as the reconfigured cooling system, creating an undercut in the sidepods, ultimately energising the floor perfectly, and a decreased radiator area specific for each track. The developments allowed the car to have a quick turn-in response and overall smoother airflow.
Although it all seemed perfect, many issues surfaced after the Miami Grand Prix granting the beginning of RedBull’s nightmare season. As a direct consequence of the elevated downforce added to the car, finding balance became one of the main struggles. Followed by an intense low-speed understeer and a high speed oversteer. Unlike the past years, Red Bull struggled to find the right evolutions, and were ultimately surpassed by McLaren.
The papaya team managed to solve the same problem by introducing a front wing, featuring a front flap that would bend down at speed and combat low speed understeer, then flex down giving high speed stability. One of the key factors behind Red Bull’s inability to keep up was the cost cap, which limited the team's ability to bring innovations.
The internal issues
RedBull’s main strength has surely been Max Verstappen, who truly pushed the car to its limit managing to win nine Grands-Prix and ultimately, the driver’s championship. On the contrary, what definitely did not help the team’s suffering season, was Sergio Perez’s performance.
After four podiums in the first seven races, the Mexican followed with two DNF’s in Monaco and Canada, to then end the season with no more podiums. In qualifying he underwent six Q1 exits and three Q2 exits, demonstrating once again his inability to outqualify his team mate. Inevitably, his inconsistency led to his replacement with Liam Lawson.
Meanwhile, Red Bull's second driver struggles only amplified into 2025, with Lawson failing to make it out of Q1 or SQ1 in the first two rounds at Australia and Shanghai. He also appeared to lack confidence to drive the RB21 to the limit in Shanghai, exemplifying the struggles faced by his predecessors in the seat alongside Verstappen.
The Dutchman will have his fifth new teammate since 2019, with RB's Yuki Tsunoda stepping up to replace the now demoted Lawson, swapping seats with the Kiwi racer.
What also fuelled negative talk on behalf of the team was the announcement of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley’s departure from the team.
2025 prospects
Based on the outcome of the last year, and the internal crisis surrounding their second seat, it’s easy to assume Red Bull’s possibilities of starting the new season on a high are very low.
The team will have to work around the intense struggles suffered and ultimately focusing on the performance around slow-speed corners and the general balance of the car. Other than the technical developments, all eyes are on the fresh driver line up, with Lawson now replaced by Tsunoda, promoted up from the junior RB franchise.
It is well known that being Verstappen's teammate comes along with a high number of expectations. Will Tsunoda will be able to put up with the intensity of such a position?
Lawson is definitely not the only one under pressure. If the developments brought to the car should be insufficient, high demands are set for the Dutchman who will have to prove his greatness once again. One thing is sure, Red Bull will now start on a fresh note, with a strong, young and aggressive line up, which most definitely won't be scared to fight to gain positions.
Will 2025 see Redbull reclaim their throne? Stay tuned and brace yourself for the season to follow.
