Red Bull’s competitiveness was met with big questions after the F1 Spanish Grand Prix.
The first race to close out the new regulations at Flexi-Wings made little difference to McLaren, who secured his first 1-2 finish in 2025.
Meanwhile, an angry Max Verstappen clashed with George Russell, leading to a penalty for the time he dropped him to 10th place.
He questioned whether he could have left Paddock behind and even competed for the driver’s title against Oscar Piastri and Rand Norris.
“Maybe the moment he gave up his options,” Spanish journalist Jessu Barceiro told the F1 Nation podcast in Barcelona.
“I spoke with another driver who knew about the fight against Fernando Alonso, a less competitive car.
“He said this was a relief that (maximum) didn’t have to fight with even worse weapons for something impossible against these McLarens.
“It doesn’t look wise to lose a P5 due to the merit that could have been a P3.
“I don’t know why Max is so mad.
“The situation was Red Bull, you have to have a set of hard tires and turn that position… maybe this was a situation where Red Bull wasn’t playing well.”
“Where will Red Bull get closer?” Where is McLaren?
Red Bull
Julianne Cerasoli added a harsh warning.
“There are a lot of fast angles on this truck. They used to do well with fast angles.
“Saudi, Japan, Imola – it seemed they could compete with McLaren on a fast horn. Here?
“I was really surprised by the gap in qualifying, three-thirds and the gap in the race.
“Put it in Max’s account for frustration.
“Everyone was hoping that Red Bull would approach McLaren here. And if they weren’t here, where would they be near?”
Verstappen later apologised for his role in a clash with Russell.
Christian Horner revealed that Verstappen expressed regret in the team’s report.
However, they are also being asked about Red Bull, which surrounds the tire strategy, and their decision to tell Verstappen to go through Russell.
However, compared to the fastest F1 car in McLaren’s garage, an even greater headache surrounds the RB21’s performance.
Surprisingly, Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the last one to qualify for Barcelona.
Red Bull is fourth in the constructors behind McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, each with two drivers to score.