Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen unleashed a fiery critique of his Red Bull RB21 after a shockingly underwhelming qualifying session at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where he slumped to seventh place. The Dutchman, chasing an unprecedented fifth consecutive title, entered the 2025 season as the favorite but now faces an uphill battle to defend his crown.
While he sits second in the early championship standings, his frustrations with Red Bull’s 2025 challenger boiled over in Sakhir, raising alarms about the team’s ability to sustain its dominance.
Max Verstappen’s scathing RB21 verdict
Verstappen’s frustrations peaked during Saturday’s chaotic qualifying, where he struggled to extract pace from the RB21 across all three sessions. Over team radio, the 27-year-old lambasted the car’s handling, telling engineer Gianpiero Lambiase:
“Just too slow. Bad balance—I couldn’t brake, couldn’t turn, no traction. It’s been like this all weekend.” Post-session, he doubled down to Viaplay: “We’ve changed the car left to right, but nothing works. When you press the pedals, it’s like kicking a wall. There’s no feeling.”
The analogy—“kicking a wall”—paints a grim picture of the RB21’s responsiveness. Unlike last year’s dominant machine, the 2025 car lacks the aerodynamic stability and mechanical grip Max Verstappen relies on for his aggressive driving style. His seventh-place grid slot marks his worst Bahrain qualifying since 2018, a stark contrast to his commanding victory at the Japanese Grand Prix just a week prior.
Why Bahrain exposed Red Bull’s flaws
Bahrain’s abrasive track and tire management demands magnified the RB21’s weaknesses. Verstappen reported chronic understeer in high-speed corners and unpredictable rear grip under acceleration—issues that plagued him throughout practice. Red Bull’s attempts to tweak setup, including adjustments to suspension and downforce levels, failed to resolve the imbalance.
Teammate Yuki Tsunoda fared slightly better, sneaking into Q3 with a tenth-place finish, but even his performance highlighted the car’s inconsistency.
“Max is wrestling that thing,” observed Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle. “When a driver of his caliber can’t find rhythm, the problem runs deep.”
Verstappen’s gloomy outlook
Verstappen’s pessimism extends to Sunday’s race. “There’s no balance for tomorrow either,” he admitted, signaling doubts about the RB21’s race pace. Overtaking in Bahrain is notoriously tough, and starting seventh leaves him vulnerable to rivals like Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, who locked out the front row.
Red Bull’s strategy team now faces a dilemma: gamble on an aggressive tire strategy to gain early positions or conserve tires and hope for late-race chaos. Either way, Verstappen’s title charge risks stalling if upgrades don’t arrive swiftly.
A Chink in Red Bull’s Armor?
While one poor weekend doesn’t define a season, Verstappen’s outburst underscores growing tension within Red Bull. The team’s technical guru Adrian Newey, instrumental in past successes, reportedly clashed with management over the RB21’s design direction during winter testing. With rivals like Ferrari and McLaren closing the gap, Red Bull can’t afford prolonged mechanical gremlins.
For Verstappen, patience is thinning. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow,” he shrugged—a rare hint of resignation from F1’s most relentless competitor. If the RB21 remains a “wall” to kick, even his brilliance might not salvage Red Bull’s season.