After a grueling Qualifying, Max Verstappen shares Red Bull’s struggle for answers concerning their performance at the 2025 F1 Austrian GP.
This weekend at Spielberg, Red Bull would have hoped for strong performance at the team’s home race weekend. However, after a tough qualifying session, Verstappen only managed 7th on the starting grid. His lap time? Almost a second slower than leading driver, Norris
Hardship at every corner
When speaking to the media, Verstappen claimed performance issues began on Friday, despite top three finishes in both practice sessions.
“I think yesterday already was not good. Over one lap, the long run wasn’t good. Today, FP3 I think was a little more positive, but in cornering basically everything felt bad.“
The Red Bull driver mainly cited issues with balance and grip, intensified by the circuit’s hot and windy conditions.
“Every corner was a struggle, I just didn’t have the balance. It’s why the runs were all over the show. Even every single lap that I did, I had a little bit different behaviour with the car. So, yeah, that’s not ideal.“
Despite upgrades brought to the car, and its projected suitability to the Spielberg circuit “on paper“, Verstappen noted the complexity in dynamics influencing the team’s unsatisfactory qualifying result.
“Yeah, I mean I don’t want to talk about the upgrades because I think it was not only the upgrade that caused all this. So yeah, it’s just suddenly we really took a step back. Which is not what you want, I think. It’s just very tiny little changes that shouldn’t influence the car balance. I mean that’s all manageable, but suddenly with the higher track temps and more wind, everything just fell apart.“
Red Bull looking for answers
Verstappen was further questioned concerning the accreditation of their performance to factors such as tyre sensitivity.
“I wish I knew. To be honest, it’s just so hard to know at the moment. I didn’t expect it to be this radical, but I think no one did in the team. So that’s something that we have to analyse.“
Unable to pinpoint a root cause, Verstappen’s response foretells the analysis and preparation the team will be undergoing ahead of tomorrow’s race.
Verstappen lacks optimism ahead of the 2025 Austrian GP
When asked what he expects from the weekend, the Red Bull driver stated: “Not a lot. I mean not to fight up front for sure. […] So far this year, we’ve never really been more competitive in the race and qualifying as well. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow.“
He continued, stating that irrespective of an optimistic run on the hard tyre in FP3, a podium will be unlikely at tomorrow’s race. Per his anticipation for less impressive results, Verstappen emphasises that his sights are set not on the dominant McLaren’s, or the Championship fight, but on the task at hand.
“I don’t look at it. I don’t look at the championship,” he said, adding, “I just do my thing every single race and just go from there.“
