Despite a difficult start to the 2025 season for Red Bull, Max Verstappen has featured on the podium during the opening two rounds of the championship. The four-time world champion sits just eight points adrift the leader, Lando Norris, in the drivers’ title race.
Notwithstanding this promising start to the season—at least from Verstappen’s perspective— former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has written off the Milton Keynes-based team from the championship battle. And this doesn’t stem from Red Bull’s problems with their second driver’s struggles but from a technical standpoint.
The Bulls have already lost the likes of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, who served as the pillars of their technical structure for years. And it isn’t a cakewalk to replace someone like Newey, who has designed championship-winning cars since the early 1990s, including all of Red Bull’s title-winning challengers.
On the other hand, Red Bull’s restructuring to promote multiple people for handling Wheatley’s responsibilities speaks volumes about how crucial the former sporting director’s presence at Milton Keynes was. So, Schumacher believes there is a long road ahead of the team to rebuild themselves into serious title contenders after so much attrition.
“[They have] lost so many good people. They are not lying on the road, they are not sitting around. This is now a lengthy process to find them again and build them up,” he explained, as quoted by Motorsport-Total.
Newey has no regrets over leaving Red Bull pic.twitter.com/tCyNeEly6P
— Autosport (@autosport) January 30, 2025
F1 is a competitive sport, and top-notch talent, as per Schumacher, isn’t just waiting around the corner. In fact, the departure of Newey and Wheatley will need some serious reconsideration in terms of replacements to be found.
Nevertheless, the Austrian outfit needs to do so and also strive towards doing well in the 2025 championship. But the way their RB21 has responded so far, it doesn’t look like a race-winning car—even in the hands of Verstappen.
Is the 2025 season doomed for Red Bull?
On paper, big names leaving a team as decorated as Red Bull doesn’t hold much water. However, the absence of a designer of Newey’s caliber has already started to show signs of dismay within the squad.
The RB21 is suffering from the same balance issues that jeopardized Verstappen‘s title bid last year. In fact, things have gotten so bad that the 27-year-old has himself started criticizing how difficult the car is to drive.
“There are still some problems with the kerbs, the bumps. That’s obviously not our strong point with us, but I just keep harping on that,” he explained as quoted by Planet F1.
The drawbacks of the RB21’s design philosophy have already cost Liam Lawson his seat. The Kiwi driver, who was promoted to the main team at the start of the season, has already been demoted back to Racing Bulls after only two races.
In a sport like F1, a team always looks forward to upgrades to improve the performance of the car. But with the 2026 regulations reset right around the corner, there isn’t much scope to improve the drivability of the RB21 with the focus firmly on next season’s car. This could prove disastrous for Red Bull’s title ambitions this season.
