Red Bull chief admits Max Verstappen won't be happy as F1 car plans discussed
Red Bull's top technical chief has ruled our making their car easier to drive in order to help Yuki Tsunoda find his feet. That's because sacrificing performance for comfort is likely to upset "our main asset" Max Verstappen.
Red Bull are no longer the dominant force on the Formula 1 grid with rivals McLaren currently ruling the roost. But Verstappen has continued to perform with two race victories to his name so far in 2025 and the Dutchman is third in the drivers' championship behind only Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
In contrast, the second seat at the team remains a source of great frustration. Liam Lawson was dropped after just two rounds as he buckled under the pressure, but his more experienced replacement Tsunoda has also struggled and hit a new low in Barcelona when he qualified 20th and dead last.
Tsunoda had put in some impressive performances for sister team Racing Bulls, whose car is slower but more driveable than Red Bull's temperamental RB21. But while the team believes they can learn from their junior outfit, technical director Pierre Wache has ruled out going down the same route altogether.
"It's difficult – we are a team and problems are part of it," the Frenchman told RacingNews365. "We are rewarded for the team championship. It's very important to have a second driver performing well. As a technical [leader], it's important to have two drivers giving feedback and views. Even more if they operate close to each other, it's even better for us at the top.
"At the moment, it's not what we have. We have to try and help Yuki as much as possible, like we did in the past. We didn't manage with Checo [Sergio Perez], we didn't manage with Liam. With Yuki, we are trying."
But when asked if Red Bull could choose driveability over outright pace to help bring Tsunoda closer to the front of the grid, Wache said the team would not be willing to risk angering Verstappen who likely wouldn't be pleased with the loss of performance. He added: "I'm not sure that we want to create a VCARB.
"We can learn stuff but, if we gave that to Max, I'm not sure that he would be happy. He's our main asset in terms of performance. [We don't want to] reduce the overall potential of the car to make it easier."
The RB21 has been a superb qualifying car in Verstappen's hands – he has beaten even the McLarens to pole position for three of the nine Grands Prix held so far in 2025 and he has an average qualifying position of third on the grid. Race pace, however, hasn't always been able to match.
That is where the sister Racing Bulls car has been stronger, allowing drivers to manage tyre wear better and that is the key characteristic that Wache wants to take from the VCARB 02 and apply it to the RB21. He said: "It doesn't mean we don't have to improve. What we can extract from these cars is the degradation, the race pace."
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