Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen assesses the performance of the Red Bull RB21 and how big McLaren’s lead really is after five race weekends
Pole position in qualifying and second place in the race with a gap of only 2.8 seconds: Has Red Bull closed the gap to McLaren at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? Defending world champion Max Verstappen certainly recognized significant progress and said he was “positively surprised” by the weekend in Jeddah.
On Friday, Red Bull was still clearly behind: “It was really difficult because the tires just degraded, no matter what I did in terms of driving or tire management,” explained Verstappen.
The team therefore made changes to the Red Bull RB21 for Saturday. “That made the car much more comfortable to drive,” said Verstappen. This was followed by the fastest time in qualifying and laps in the lead in the Grand Prix. But that doesn’t mean all the car’s problems have been solved: “There are still limitations.”
At least: “It looked much more promising. And actually, at one point when I was able to pull away again, I was quite surprised – pleasantly surprised,” said Verstappen.
Why Verstappen doesn’t see a trend yet
However, the four-time Formula 1 world champion does not want to talk about a trend at this point, because Jeddah places unique demands on the cars: “It’s a track where the tires hardly degrade. And we know that we struggle more on tracks with higher tire wear.”
That’s why Red Bull needs to “keep calm and keep working,” says Verstappen. “But the changes we made on Saturday also worked on Sunday. I’m very happy about that. For me, it was simply positive that my pace was better than expected. And that’s definitely a good thing.”
How close Red Bull is to McLaren
The bottom line, however, is McLaren’s fourth victory in the fifth Grand Prix, which begs the question: How close has Red Bull gotten to McLaren? Verstappen himself says he has “no idea.” “It’s impossible to say. But I haven’t looked at the numbers yet.”
However, data analysis at F1-Tempo shows a surprisingly close picture, especially at the start of the race: Verstappen and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri fought a close battle on medium tires, with the advantage shifting back and forth. It was only in the second phase of the stint that Verstappen began to pull away slightly.
Things got even tighter in the second stint on hard tires, but then the tables turned: Due to his time penalty, Verstappen fell behind Piastri during the tire change, but was practically neck and neck on the harder compound. Often, only hundredths or a few tenths of a second separated the drivers in first and second place per lap.
Where Red Bull still has room for improvement
So what is Red Bull still missing to be able to seriously challenge McLaren? “I think we need to find more performance overall – especially in terms of balance – and, of course, consistency,” says Verstappen.
The Red Bull RB21 is also not yet an “all-rounder” and therefore “not strong on every track,” Verstappen continues. “In Bahrain, for example, there were a few things missing. It was definitely much better here. But as I said, tire degradation is very low here, and then more cars perform better.” That masks the true balance of power.
“So we still have work to do,” says Verstappen. Nevertheless, he considers P2 a ‘promising result’ at the end of a ‘promising weekend.’ His reasoning: ‘We really managed to find a good or at least decent setup, and that’s obviously positive for us.’
