Max Verstappen and Red Bull seemed all at sea during pre-season testing in Bahrain, a couple of weeks ago. While McLaren and Ferrari were looking comfortably quick, the RB21 did not look hooked to the track as the Austrian team were constantly experimenting aero setups and gathering data even during the final hours on day three of testing.
Cut to Friday practice at the Australian GP weekend, Verstappen seems much more at home with the 2025 car’s balance, even though he hasn’t topped the timesheets in both FP1 and FP2.
Last season, Red Bull suffered massively from handling and balance issues on the RB20, which compromised the Dutchman’s ability to extract more performance from the car. Bahrain testing showed that perhaps the Bulls haven’t been able to iron out those chinks in their armor.
With the RB21 being an evolution of last year’s car concept, it was possible. However, Verstappen’s laps during Friday practice in Melbourne paint a different picture. Motorsport tech expert and Braking bias podcast host, Dr. Obbs, posted about the same that Red Bull may have a chance to fight at the front.
“Max isn’t struggling at all, and the lap times are coming easy and consistently. Maybe it’s not fast just yet, but it looks balanced,” he stated.
While Dr. Obbs did claim that he isn’t getting his hopes up, he mentioned that Verstappen has performed much better in the FP1 session compared to what used to be the case last season when Red Bull were struggling.
Don’t want to get my hopes up, but watching these race runs compared to last year in an FP1 is like night and day difference. Max isn’t struggling at all, and the lap times are coming easy and consistently. Maybe it’s not fast just yet, but it looks balanced.
— Dr Obbs (@dr_obbs) March 14, 2025
So far though, none of the teams have pushed their cars to the limit as they are just gathering data around Albert Park before qualifying on Saturday. That is when everyone will have to push at any cost and unleash the full potential of their 2025 challengers.
Where will Verstappen and Red Bull stack up relative to others will be interesting to watch. If he can put the RB21 near the front of the field, the four-time world champion will be in business on Sunday, given there is rain forecast for the Grand Prix.
Can Verstappen win the season opener once again?
For the last two seasons, Verstappen has been dominating the season-opening race, albeit in Bahrain. Now that F1 has reverted to Australia being the season-opener, the Dutchman has a steep challenge on his hands.
Verstappen has won the Australian GP only once in his career in 2023, when he had the dominant car of the field. With his current car not being the best out of the lot, the 27-year-old will have to dig deep to secure a second win in Melbourne.
From Friday’s running, it can be deduced that the RB21 is looking balanced around Albert Park. But there is a slight issue of understeer in medium speed corners. Dr. Obbs underscored the same on X, stating, “Maybe some medium speed understeer still, but overall really handy and responsive. Good signs.”
Watched that last lap from Max. Car looked pretty good. Maybe some medium speed understeer still, but overall really handy and responsive. Good signs. Lots of lifting though, so not pushing just yet.
— Dr Obbs (@dr_obbs) March 14, 2025
However, rain impacting Sunday’s Grand Prix may neutralize any pace advantage for McLaren or Ferrari and get Verstappen back in the fight.
If the Dutchman can qualify in the top five somehow in a hot Saturday afternoon qualifying session, he can take advantage of the wet weather, as he often does, to start his 2025 title defense with a victory.
