Red Bull RB21 development concerns intensify

Even for Red Bull’s standards, their start to 2025 has been extremely chaotic. Liam Lawson barely lasted two weeks at the Milton Keynes outfit, with Yuki Tsunoda taking his place ahead of the Japanese GP.

The team’s driver situation is understandably dominating headlines, with Red Bull committing mistakes from the past – massively overestimating Lawson’s ability to adapt to the RB21.

Putting aside the inevitable scrutiny that Tsunoda will face this weekend in his home Grand Prix, Christian Horner’s team must overcome their development slump.

The RB21 is not performing as intended – and the road to recovery could be complicated.

Red Bull cannot afford any more mistakes

Last year’s Championship was defined by McLaren’s update package in Miami, which catapulted them into title contention.

Despite these improvements arriving relatively early in the season, Red Bull failed to introduce any meaningful improvements to combat the papaya team’s resurgence.

It was mainly Max Verstappen’s sheer strength of will, coupled by McLaren’s operational mistakes, that saw the Dutchman claim a fourth title.

Despite the 2025 season being in its infancy, Red Bull are already on the defensive.

The RB21 is several steps away from McLaren and potentially also behind the Mercedes W16.

Christian Horner admitted last season that his team could be reaching a development ‘ceiling’ with their concept towards the end of 2024.

He conceded that Red Bull were struggling to find solutions, something which has become abundantly clear in recent weeks.

According to Helmut Marko, the absence of Adrian Newey is significant:

“It’s true that the RB21 is very difficult to drive,” OE24.

“The Racing Bull is easier to handle and very fast on a qualifying lap.

“But in the race, it lags significantly behind the Red Bull.

“Of course, we’re missing a man like that. A Newey is a Newey.

“But we’re a team of almost a thousand people – the crew behind him was built up gradually.”

Adrian Newey’s concerns overlooked

A few weeks before officially beginning work at Aston Martin, Adrian Newey spoke about his final months at Red Bull

The 66-year-old revealed that he expressed doubts about the team’s trajectory during their dominant 2023 campaign.

Newey claims that he was worried about some of the characteristics emerging on track – only for other senior engineers at Milton Keynes to downplay his concerns.

Almost twelve months since Newey’s exit, Red Bull are undoubtedly in their weakest state for several years.

Claiming either the drivers or constructors title in 2025 seems unlikely, unless there is a massive upgrade package in the coming weeks.

Max Verstappen’s complaints from last year have not been addressed, whilst Yuki Tsunoda must quickly adapt to the increasingly notorious second Red Bull without any pre-season.

In addition to these short-term concerns, Red Bull are expected to face difficulties when the 2026 regulation arrive.

The challenge of building their own engines for the first time cannot be overstated. In all likelihood, they will lag behind more established manufacturers like Mercedes and Honda.

Considering their 2025 prospects are already gloomy at best, the Austrian outfit cannot take comfort from their long-term trajectory – given the inevitable transitional phase they must overcome, as key personnel like Adrian Newey and Rob Marshall join rivals.