Red Bull admitted F1 testing was “not as smooth” as they expected with question marks over their pace compared to apparent pace-setters McLaren ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Across the three days of testing in Bahrain, Red Bull completed the least number of laps as Max Verstappen set the second-best time of the last day on Friday behind George Russell.
But, the RB21 was regularly in the garage as the team made changes throughout the test but also suffered a water pressure failure on Thursday.
Neither Verstappen or Liam Lawson completed a full race simulation either, which would have been the best indicator of Red Bull’s pace.
“It was not as smooth a test as we expected and the team expected, but it is better to find some problems here than later down the line and it is why we are here, to understand the car,” said technical director Pierre Wache.
“The weather was not with us and not very representative of this track, but we tried to explore the potential of the car and tried to understand how it responds to different set-ups, and I think we more or less achieved that.
“I think it’s very difficult to see a starting order for Melbourne across the grid right now, you see that four teams look quite quick, including us, but we didn’t look too much at other teams, we tried to focus on our programme.
“I am not as happy as I could be because the car did not respond how we wanted at times, but it is going in the right direction, just maybe the magnitude of the direction was not as big as we expected and it’s something we need to work on for the first race and future development.”
Verstappen: Work to do but testing ‘wasn’t bad’
Verstappen has the opportunity to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of five consecutive titles this year but Lando Norris goes into the season as favourite after McLaren impressed the most in testing.
On the second day of testing, Norris was around one second quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli during the final stint of their respective race simulations, albeit on a faster tyre.
Lewis Hamilton pointed out that Verstappen had a “decent” long run on the last morning but the Dutchman played down expectations.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris had a hilarious response when asked how their relationship is now after their clashes on the track last season
“I think we had a decent last day, there were a few little problems but overall, we completed quite a bit of what we wanted to do,” he said.
“I think it wasn’t bad but at the same time there is still a bit of work to do. However, it is what we expected and we will keep on working and keep on trying to improve and hopefully, as we go into Melbourne, we will learn a bit more by going through all the data and see where we are at.
“It is difficult to tell where everyone’s pace is, so there is still a bit of work to do for us. We are looking forward to starting racing properly again in Australia.”
Haas driver Esteban Ocon and Red Bull’s Verstappen both spun out of control at the same turn during the closing stages of testing
When is the first F1 race?
For the first time since 2019, the season-opener will be held in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16. The first race has switched from Bahrain to Australia due to Ramadan taking place throughout March.
There are 24 events on the 2025 F1 calendar, the same number as last year, with the season ending at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 5-7.
Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2025 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian GP on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
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