Red Bull has admitted that it is “not confident” about its chances in Formula 1 next year, despite Max Verstappen clinching his fourth world championship in Las Vegas.
In the wake of a major threat from McLaren’s Lando Norris in a run of races after the summer break, Red Bull and Verstappen managed to get to the bottom of troubles with their RB20 to unlock the pace needed to turn the tables in recent races.
A stunning performance from Verstappen in the wet Brazilian Grand Prix set the stage for him to secure the title in Las Vegas last weekend, despite finishing behind Mercedes and Ferrari.
But while Red Bull overcame even its own doubts to win the drivers’ title this year, the team thinks that its prospects for 2025 are not great – especially because its success this year was helped by its strong start to the campaign.
Asked if the steps made with the RB20 had left Red Bull more optimistic for next season, technical director Pierre Wache said: “I think we are happy with what we have done quickly.
“I’m not confident for ’25. I’m not confident because I think the others are very quick or are there. It will be a fight for the full year.”
Pierre Wache, Technical Director Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
However, Wache sees his lack of optimism as a potential strength, because his downbeat assessment will force the team to dig deeper and find extra potential with its RB21.
“If you have confidence in this business, you are dead,” he said. “You have to work hard, and everybody has to, in the team, work hard. Everybody’s working hard.
“When you see the number of people we have trying to find a very small amount of performance and add and add and add everywhere, it is a very difficult task.
“I have a lack of confidence, because if I have confidence, you go to sleep, you don’t go to work, and then you don’t find performance.”
Unexpected early dominance
Wache suggested that Red Bull’s dominance in recent seasons had caused some surprise, because it had anticipated rivals being much closer – as it never felt it had unleashed anything special with its car.
“What happened this year in terms of fighting is what we expected in 2023, to be honest,” he said. “In ’22, we didn’t start the season with the quickest car as Ferrari’s start [was strong].
“So then we expected the fight in ’23 but it didn’t happen. And in ’24, from the beginning of the season,…
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