Ever since the Technical Regulation change in 2022, Red Bull has been the team to beat in Formula 1. They completely dominated the 2022 and 2023 seasons but faced some challenges in 2024. According to Red Bull’s Technical Director, Pierre Wache, they may once again face more challenges this year.
The Pre-Season Testing at Bahrain gave all 10 teams the opportunity to compare their cars to the rest of the grid. From what it seemed like, the top teams were McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. However, things did not go smoothly for the Austrian team.
Pierre Wache not satisfied with data from the 2025 Pre-Season Testing
After testing concluded, Red Bull’s Technical Director, Pierre Wache, gave his thoughts on the data that was collected across the 3 days.
“It was not as smooth a test as we expected and the team expected, but it is better to find some problems here than later down the line, and it is why we are here, to understand the car,” said the Frenchman.
“The weather was not with us and not very representative of this track, but we tried to explore the potential of the car and tried to understand how it responds to different set-ups, and I think we more or less achieved that.
“I am not as happy as I could be because the car did not respond how we wanted at times, but it is going in the right direction, just maybe the magnitude of the direction was not as big as we expected and it’s something we need to work on for the first race and future development.”
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While the energy drinks team may have shown some glimpses of pace during testing, we may not see them be quick on a consistent basis.
We also saw Red Bull try different nose designs across the 3 days of testing. It somewhat seemed as though the team realized a flaw in their nose and were scrambling at the last minute. But was this planned to throw off the other teams? That is a possibility.
Did Red Bull Sandbag the RB21 during Pre-Season Testing?
It is no secret that the teams usually sandbag their cars during Pre-Season testing as they don’t want to reveal all their designs to their competitors before the first race of the season. Red Bull is no exception here.
Although it cannot be confirmed, we can be nearly sure that Red Bull did not reveal the full potential of the RB21. As mentioned above, we did see them use different nose designs, which could be a ploy to throw off the competitors. For all we know, Pierre Wache’s statement about not being happy with the data the team received could also be a ploy.
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But we can be certain that Red Bull was not the only team hiding certain features of the car. None of the top teams, including McLaren and Ferrari, would have shown their true pace at Bahrain.
As to what the starting order will be in Melbourne, we will have to wait and see. But it is likely that McLaren will remain the team to beat, with Ferrari and Red Bull close behind. But there are still some more variables that could come into play, such as Ferrari’s new driver, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, and Red Bull’s Liam Lawson. We are yet to see how these drivers perform in their new teams.
Who do you think will come out on top at the season opener in Melbourne this year? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
