Red Bull, Emergency Meeting: Max Verstappen, to work at RB21
The Dutch, about to be a father for the first time, had to travel to Milton Keynes to try to find answers to the car’s performance and try to fight the McLaren.
In Red Bull, it has the most serious problems that are far beyond whether Max Verstappen’s partner is Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda. While the pilot’s castle with the Racing Bulls team is already determined for Japan GP, the largest headache in the energy drink team is to walk the RB21. Only the Dutchman, based on his enormous natural talent, was able to score points in the two appointments that are taken from the 2025 season with a car that is unmanageable. Lawson suffered them in his own flesh and nobody knows if Tsunoda can control it.
The tetrampeon took the second place of Australia to pure doll, when Melbourne’s track was complicated by the rain and Oscar Piastri ended by the grass, destroying a 1-2 sung McLaren. The Woking team finally managed to seal the double in China, while Max was fourth, surpassed the two Ferrari (then they would be disqualified), but behind the Mercedes of George Russell.
The RB21 was born complicated, and even shows logical. The chassis is an evolution of the RB20, which had a fantastic start, with seven triumphs of Verstappen in the first ten dates, with Czech Pérez completing the double in the two initials (Baréin and Saudi Arabia). But suddenly everything was complicated. As soon as the Austrian team put the first updates on track, the RB20 was lost. Czech scored 103 points on the first six dates and just 49 in the remaining 18. Max Hilvanó ten big prizes without winning, his longest streak without successes since he achieved his first crown, already pure talent put a total full in the flood of San Pablo and sealed his fourth title.
Thus came the RB21. With Pérez ejected for his bad results (18 million euros, Red Bull came out the termination of the Mexican), Lawson was anointed over Tsunoda to get on the main team. But the rhythm of the car is not. In the classification of Australia, Verstappen was 385 thousandths from Lando Norristhe owner of the pole and in the crazy race, when comparing the fastest turns of each one, it was 914 thousandths slower than Norris. In China, the Dutch approached classification and was 176 thousandths of Piastri. However, in the race rite, he could not compete against the McLaren, much faster than the Red Bull, especially with the middle tires. The best performance advantage of the RB21 was in the last 15 turns, with worn hard tires and less fuel. There he surpassed Charles Leclerc.
In Red Bull there is concern, and much. So much, that an emergency meeting was determined in Milton Keynes, with the presence of Verstappen, to treat answers in the analysis of all telemetry data. “We have to improve the car as soon as possible, but we know it will take time,” said Helmut Marko, an advisor to the Austrian team. After China’s career, Max traveled to Monaco, where he lives, to be with his wife Kelly Piquet (Nelson’s daughter), who is already in the countdown to give birth to the first son of the couple. But the tranquility he was looking for a dry cut, had to travel to the team floor and his plane was ready to take him back to the principality in the event that childbirth is forward and is in the midst of work with engineers.
“We are worried, but we don’t throw the towel,” said Marko on the weaknesses of RB21. Christian Horner, team director, was optimistic: “We are eight points from the leader of the pilot championship after two careers, there is a lot of at stake. We have a developmental of development that is planned And we are trying to make sure that McLaren puts pressure, ”he said.
For now, only Verstappen can handle the Red Bull and behind, looking at the not so distant future, the great doubt appears in the Team: what if Max leaves? Although the contract ligas to the Dutch with the team until 2028, among the termination clauses appears the performance of the car and position in the World Cup. On the horizon appears an alleged millionaire offer of Aston Martin and, crouch, Mercedes. Russell’s contract expires at the end of this year and, for now, nor is it talk about renewal …
