Red Bull struggles in Bahrain as Verstappen drops in standings

Red Bull's F1 2025 woes continue with brake issues and poor pit stops costing Verstappen in Bahrain.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner watches from the garage during the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on April 13, 2025. Photo by Andrej Isakovic/AFP

By Anna Fadiah and Hayu Andini

The Red Bull struggles in Bahrain this weekend left the reigning champions reeling, as Max Verstappen failed to deliver a repeat of his strong performance from Japan. Instead of fighting for the win, the Dutch driver was left languishing in sixth place by the end of the race in Sakhir. The disappointing result saw Verstappen slip to third place in the 2025 Formula One drivers' standings, now trailing McLaren’s Lando Norris by eight points.

Red Bull’s form in Bahrain was far from what fans and the team expected, especially after the success at Suzuka. From the outset, things looked out of sync. Problems with the car, poor race execution, and uncharacteristically slow pit stops plagued the team across the weekend.

Verstappen battles brake issues and a tough car

A major concern throughout the weekend was Verstappen’s discomfort with the car’s braking system. The usually dominant driver appeared visibly frustrated during team radio communications, repeatedly referencing a lack of bite and feedback from the brake pedal — a key component that allows drivers to manage corners aggressively and confidently.

“He's not getting any bite or feel from the pedal, and of course it's such an important tool that gives the driver so much feedback,” said team principal Christian Horner after the race, underlining the technical challenge facing the Austrian team.

Verstappen’s inability to extract performance from the car wasn't just a result of the braking system. The RB21 — Red Bull’s 2025 challenger — is proving unpredictable. While the team expected a natural progression from last year’s dominant car, the current design has turned out to be more temperamental than anticipated.

A difficult start and strategic woes

Red Bull’s weekend began to unravel right from the start of the race. Verstappen got away poorly off the line, losing crucial positions in the opening corners. What followed were suboptimal pit strategies that failed to gain back any time. Pit stop errors have been rare for Red Bull in recent years, but in Bahrain, they seemed to echo the team’s broader disarray.

“Look, it was a bad weekend for the team, nothing went our way from the start of the race,” Horner admitted. “We didn’t get off the line cleanly, and pit stops didn’t work well for us today.”

Tsunoda offers a rare bright spot

Yuki Tsunoda, recently promoted to the main Red Bull team in place of Liam Lawson, managed to salvage a glimmer of hope. In only his second race with the senior team, the Japanese driver earned his first points in ninth place. His performance, while not headline-grabbing, was solid and dependable.

“I thought actually Yuki has had a very solid weekend,” said Horner. “He qualified in the top ten, finished in the points today, he drove pretty well. He was only 12 or 14 seconds behind his team-mate, so I thought Yuki’s race was actually reasonably good.”

It’s a performance that may help him solidify his position in the team — something Lawson, who was demoted to RB after just two races, couldn’t manage.

Red Bull’s car development under scrutiny

The Bahrain Grand Prix highlighted deeper structural problems within Red Bull’s 2025 campaign. The RB21 has been described by insiders as “an awkward customer,” difficult to set up and inconsistent across different tracks. This inconsistency is a sharp contrast to the dominance the team enjoyed in 2023 and 2024.

What’s more troubling for Red Bull is that the gap to McLaren and Ferrari seems to be shrinking — or in some cases, reversing — with rivals capitalizing on aerodynamic refinements and improved tire management. If Red Bull can’t bring significant upgrades in the next few rounds, the championship battle may slip away faster than expected.

Horner keeps an eye on the long game

Despite the setbacks, Horner is not pressing the panic button yet. With 24 races on the calendar, the Red Bull boss insists that the team has both time and the resources to turn things around.

“It’s a 24-race championship, we’re eight points behind in the drivers’ championship, and we know we need to make progress very quickly,” he said, speaking after the race alongside his wife Geri Halliwell, famously known as Ginger Spice.

Horner stressed the importance of delivering a more balanced car. “If you’ve got a well-balanced car, the whole thing just comes together that much easier,” he added.

Red Bull will now head across the Arabian peninsula to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix — the final leg of the early-season triple-header. The street circuit is notoriously fast and narrow, and setup precision is key. If Red Bull’s balance and braking issues persist, the tight layout could punish them even more severely than Bahrain.

The bigger picture for Red Bull

The Bahrain weekend marked a pivotal moment in Red Bull’s 2025 season. Though not a disaster in terms of points — Verstappen still bagged useful championship positions — it highlighted deeper mechanical and strategic flaws that could cost the team long-term.

Fans and pundits alike will be watching closely in Jeddah to see whether Bahrain was an isolated dip or the beginning of a larger trend. Verstappen, known for his resilience, will be hungry to reassert dominance, while Tsunoda will aim to build on his newfound momentum. The pressure is on the engineers and strategists now, more than ever, to deliver results.

With the 2025 title fight wide open and rivals sharpening their claws, Red Bull can no longer afford weekends like this. As Horner said, they need to “make progress very quickly” — and that starts with solving the RB21’s brake issues and restoring confidence in their race-day decisions.

Whether Red Bull can recover in Jeddah or continue to falter will be one of the defining stories of this young Formula One season.