Red Bull Racing has revealed their 2025 Formula 1 challenger, the RB21, prior to the pre-season test at Bahrain.
This is the car that Max Verstappen hopes will lead to a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.
Ahead of Formula 1’s three-day winter test, Red Bull unveil its updated car design for the upcoming season, the final one under the current ground-effect based regulations cycle that will be driven by Verstappen and his new teammate Liam Lawson.
Sporting a very similar livery to last season’s car, which had already been revealed at F1 75 launch in London, the RB21 is an evolution of the RB20 and has undergone a variety of changes to address the car balance issues that plagued its predecessor, although the low-light studio images released by the team still carefully kept most of its secrets hidden from view.
Verstappen and Red Bull started the 2024 season in dominant form, but as McLaren caught up and then overtook, Verstappen and especially teammate Sergio Perez started to struggle much more with balance problems on the RB20.
It took until the Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull to gain a deeper understanding of where it had gone wrong, but by that time it was too late to avoid slipping to third behind McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.
According to technical director Pierre Wache, Red Bull has been hard at work to make its new car easier to balance and set up, but without compromising the car’s peak performance potential.
“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,” Wache said. “You know that if you increase the [operating] window you also reduce the overall potential.
“In 2023 we were proved that our direction was correct because we were quicker than the others. Last season we were proved that we were not correct. Every time there is a limit when the balance takes the benefit compared to the overall potential of the car. We have to fix it for this year.”
Going to be interesting if this car has the speed to match their rivals especially McLaren and Ferrari.
News stories:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/first-look-red-bull-tease-new-rb21-as-they-look-to-reclaim-the-teams-crown.6lEXL2j9QbLdRC2AMHlP7V
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/gallery-check-out-all-the-angles-of-red-bulls-new-2025-spec-rb21-car.5lNblUfIS1cXeMj7nze4nL
https://www.racefans.net/2025/02/25/first-pictures-red-bull-presents-first-pictures-of-its-new-rb21/
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13316659/red-bull-rb21-max-verstappens-2025-challenger-revealed-in-final-unveiling-ahead-of-testing
Official website and social media:
https://www.redbullracing.com/int-en/galleries/the-new-oracle-red-bull-racing-rb21
https://x.com/redbullracing/status/1894315818973888846
Max Verstappen says Red Bull are “confident” they have made the right changes to their car as he seeks a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.
Verstappen’s fourth crown last year was founded on a dominant period in the first five races before McLaren, in particular, caught up in performance.
The Dutchman drove an outstanding season to defend his lead from Lando Norris, when the Briton’s McLaren was the faster car in the second half of the year.
Verstappen said: “The development direction we chose at the time showed a lot of promise, but unfortunately it didn’t work like that on track so we had to change a few things.
“Now let’s hope that is the right direction. We are confident it is the right direction but let’s see how much we can extract out of it for this final season with this car.”
The new car, the RB21, will run for the first time in a short ‘filming day’ test in Bahrain on Tuesday before the official pre-season test starts at the same track on Wednesday.
Red Bull have released some official photographs of the car but they were taken in a studio and the car has been shot in low light, so any important aerodynamic details are obscured.
“My motivation is there. Last year was not straightforward but we still won the championship. I am very excited to look ahead and hopefully we can improve our car, and that is a motivation in itself.”
Verstappen said: “I don’t think we should think about that too much. It is done. He is not there any more. That’s how it is. It’s how it’s been last year and I trust also the people who are there at the moment, we have to do it all together.
“It is a team effort but I have a lot of respect for what Adrian has done for the team, have a great relationship with Adrian and I am excited for him to start a new project.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/cz9nex93d3jo