Max Verstappen has admitted Red Bull has “a lot of work to do” to be in contention to win races in the 2025 Formula 1 season based on the team’s deficit to McLaren.
Verstappen started the new campaign on the podium as he came home in second place, less than one second behind Lando Norris in a chaotic Australian Grand Prix.
However, the eventual margin at the end flattered Red Bull’s competitiveness as intermittent rain and multiple Safety Car interventions eliminated the lead Norris held.
Having passed Oscar Piastri at the start, Verstappen split the McLarens until struggles with tyre degradation triggered a mistake as he ran deep at Turn 11 on Lap 17.
The Dutchman proceeded to spurn time at an alarming rate as he dropped 18 seconds behind until Fernando Alonso’s crash on Lap 34 neutralised proceedings again.
Despite being satisfied with the result, Verstappen is under no illusion that Red Bull isn’t in a position to challenge McLaren on merit with the RB21 in its current guise.
“I think it’s good compared to the teams behind us,” Verstappen told media including Motorsport Week.
“But if you look at the first stint, we were quite a bit off. As soon as the tyres started to overheat, we had no chance. McLaren just took off.
“So, we still have a lot of work to do to fight for a win.
“But yeah, I’m happy that we are second here. It’s basically one place better than we should have been. And it’s 18 more points than I had last year at this race.”
Verstappen denies Red Bull missed chance to win
Verstappen inherited the lead on Lap 44 when a rain shower caused both McLarens to run wide at Turn 12, pitching Piastri into a spin and sending Norris into the pits.
Red Bull elected to leave Verstappen out on slicks across the next two laps, prompting questions about whether the team had missed a golden chance to beat Norris.
However, the reigning F1 champion concurred with Red Bull boss Christian Horner that stopping even a lap earlier wouldn’t have changed his overall finishing position.
“We were on the Medium, and of course, you never know how that’s going to work out,” he explained.
“But I thought it was quite a sensible call with 15, 16, or 20 laps to go when the Safety Car came out.
“Then, of course, it started to rain. I saw them go off in front of me, kept it clean, and when I saw Oscar rejoining, I thought, “Well, let’s stay out,” because it was only those three corners.
“The rest was still dry. When I continued, basically, the first two sectors were fine – it was just if I could survive the final sector. I think that lap I did was okay.
“If there wasn’t much more rain coming, I thought it could work.
“You also have to factor in that even if they caught me on an Inter, they’d have to box again for slicks, if it’s not going to rain anymore.
“So, it was fine. I thought, “We’ll do another lap,” but then, unfortunately, on that lap, the first sector was still okay-ish, but then in Sector 2, it started to rain a bit too much and we had to box.
“But in hindsight, it wouldn’t have mattered. If I’d boxed with Lando, it would have been P2. If I’d boxed the next lap, it would have been P2. And the lap that I did box, I was also P2.
“So, we tried something else—it might have worked. In a way, it didn’t work, but we didn’t lose any position, so it’s fine.”
Verstappen powerless to mount Norris attack
Verstappen denied he could have overtaken Norris with the late pressure he applied, citing the damp conditions made it impossible to venture outside the racing line.
Questioned on whether he was wishing there was one more lap, Verstappen retorted: “No, not so much, to be honest.
“I just tried my best, tried to be close, tried to put a bit of pressure on, but it’s very hard to pass around here. There was only one line.
“Even if I had gotten a run into whatever, Turn 9, you have to go onto the wet part, so you can’t really do a lot. But at least it was close. It looked good on TV!”
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