Red Bull has pulled the covers off its new RB21, the machine Max Verstappen will drive in his bid to secure a fifth consecutive Formula 1 drivers’ title in 2025.
Unveiled just ahead of the three-day pre-season test in Bahrain, starting Wednesday, the RB21 marks Red Bull’s final car under the current ground-effect regulations cycle.
Verstappen, now paired with new teammate Liam Lawson following Sergio Perez’s struggles and subsequent exit, will look to reassert the team’s dominance after a turbulent 2024 season.
The RB21 retains a near-identical livery to its predecessor, the RB20, first glimpsed at the F1 75 launch in London last week.
However, beneath the surface, it’s an evolution aimed at fixing the balance woes that plagued Red Bull last year.
Early in 2024, Verstappen and Red Bull crushed the competition, but McLaren’s rapid gains caught them off guard.
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As the season progressed, balance issues with the RB20 frustrated both drivers, particularly Perez, and Red Bull slipped to third in the constructors’ standings behind McLaren and Ferrari.
It wasn’t until the Italian Grand Prix in September that the team pinpointed their missteps, but the damage was done.
Technical director Pierre Wache explained the focus for 2025: “The main thing that you are trying to achieve is a balance between making a car that is quicker than the others and making it nice to drive so that drivers can extract the most from it,” he told Motorsport.com.
“Last season we were proved that we were not correct. We have to fix it for this year.”
While low-light images conceal the RB21’s full secrets, Red Bull aims to widen its operating window without dulling its edge.
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