Red Bull faces consequences for its arrogance while Verstappen’s growing impatience is highlighted by Rosberg in ongoing F1 drama.
Last year, Red Bull and Max Verstappen achieved the unprecedented feat in F1 of winning 21 out of 22 possible Grands Prix.
However, this year, despite a similarly explosive start (4 wins in 5 Grands Prix), Red Bull is falling behind and the two titles (especially in the constructors’ standings) from Milton Keynes are under threat.
Max Verstappen even described the RB20 as a “monster”… Technical Director Pierre Waché himself admitted to having “pushed the limits a bit too far” with this car.
And this Frankenstein was indeed created by someone: the technical team at Red Bull. According to Günther Steiner, the former boss of Haas F1, Red Bull thus fell victim to its own “arrogance”: after a very strong start to the year, the team seemed to have dozed off…
And given the stability of the technical regulations next year, Günther Steiner is already worried about Red Bull’s competitiveness in 2025.
“Next year, we will have to see where Red Bull stands. It doesn’t seem like they are making much progress, that they are ready for next year. I think they were a bit less competitive at Monza. Max said they didn’t have a special specification [a special rear wing] for Monza – they didn’t develop one – and I think that is due to their early domination of the 2024 F1 season.”
“When you start thinking about the Monza specification, you develop it at the beginning of the year. And they thought: ‘Our car is good enough anyway, we don’t need the Monza specification, let’s devote our efforts to other things.’ And here we are. You needed a Monza specification because everyone else brought a pretty significant package. Everyone made a lot of effort to have one.”
“Red Bull was the only one not to have it, and obviously, that was not what they wanted, but it was too late to change their minds or too late to develop something. They were in a good position at the start of the year and they continue to fall back, to make poor decisions.”
“No specific aero kit for Monza? That’s almost arrogance.”
Günther Steiner, however, fails to mention that if Red Bull did not develop a specification for Monza, it was particularly because of the capped budgets…
A question now at Milton Keynes: should the whole concept be changed for next year… despite the capped budgets and the efforts needed for 2026 and the new regulations?
“For this year, what Max means is that the concept they have on the car now… if they only make a few changes to this concept, they cannot get back to the top,” continues Günther Steiner.
“Max says: ‘With this concept, we are at a dead end. We try to bring a package, but it does not bring performance. Everything we do no longer works. We need to make changes to the car, which we can no longer do with this car. We need to put in place a new concept for next year.’ What he is hinting at is that whatever you put in now, you can improve it a bit. But I don’t think that on this car, which they have now, any evolutionary package can bring a major change. It’s too late. After having developed and produced it, it will only arrive after Abu Dhabi. It’s not worth doing that.”
“What they need to decide now is: ‘Do we do something big for this year still? And do we have the money? Within the framework of the capped budgets, can we still do something for this car? Take a risk? Maybe it will not work, as has been the case for some projects.'”
“The money you spend for next year goes into this year’s budget, so I don’t know. They know what they have tried, what has worked and what hasn’t worked. I think that whatever they put in, it does not work as in the wind tunnel. It’s only in the wind tunnel that they find gains.”
Rosberg: Verstappen becomes ‘angry and impatient’
Günther Steiner isn’t the only one criticizing Red Bull. Nico Rosberg, the 2016 World Champion, also sees a significant decline, particularly in the morale of Max Verstappen… who is still being courted by Mercedes F1.
“He will be shocked and we will see him get upset often. After the slow pit stop he experienced at Monza, he hit the steering wheel during the race. Red Bull never makes mistakes in their pit stops. They are perfect. So it’s almost symbolic. What’s going on here? Max is 38 seconds behind the Ferrari and McLaren. Isn’t that incredible? And they don’t know why. It’s a turn of events no one could have predicted and that makes things even more exciting.”
“Max is thus angry and impatient because, of course, he’s used to only winning, so it’s not easy for a driver who is accustomed to winning. But the whole team is getting impatient, the stress level is increasing, and panic is setting in. It’s incredible because they also don’t know what’s happening, they don’t understand.”
But the former world champion refuses to permanently join Red Bull…
“Let’s wait a bit, because let’s not forget that at Zandvoort, they still finished second fairly. They still had a good car. It was only beaten by Lando, so let’s wait. Monza is a total exception and so we should not focus too much on the performance delta at Monza. Moreover, all the upcoming circuits are exceptions. Baku, Singapore too – so let’s wait and see.”
“But I still think he will be able to fight for second place in the races, and maybe even for a win.”
Max Verstappen might therefore become particularly impatient for 2026… and Steiner concludes by seeing him leave for the great enemy.
“There’s a strong chance that will happen. We all know Verstappen wanted to go to Mercedes. And for now, he’s not happy where he is.”
“In 2026, the engine regulations will be revised. So it’s an opportunity for all F1 teams to build a car with which they can win. Verstappen might have more chances of winning a world championship at Mercedes than at Red Bull. He will have a lot of information about the evolution of Red Bull’s engine program next year. Max will have a lot of information about Mercedes’ program next year if Toto tries to attract him there. He can then make a decision that won’t be based on hope.”
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