Red Bull Racing is completely lost right now.
Max Verstappen, who once looked like he might mount a late-season championship comeback, is now struggling with a car that’s reverted to its earlier problematic state. And the team just made things much worse with a major strategic blunder.
“It’s fair to say we took some risks before qualifying to try to see if we could put the car in a better place, and it obviously went in the opposite direction. It’s sometimes the price you pay when you take a risk,” admitted Red Bull Racing team boss Laurent Mekies.
But by then, qualifying was already a disaster. Both Yuki Tsunoda and Verstappen crashed out in Q1 after a gamble that completely backfired.
This is shocking for a team that built its reputation on fine-tuning cars throughout race weekends. For years, we’d watch Verstappen look off the pace on Fridays only to magically appear at the front by Saturday and Sunday.
Not anymore. For the first time in ages, the team couldn’t find its way back to competitive form.
## The Setup Swap That Doomed Their Weekend
The RB21 was terrible on Friday and kept struggling through sprint qualifying and the sprint itself. Verstappen was fighting his car’s balance and knew they needed something different before Sunday’s main event.
That’s when Red Bull made their critical mistake.
Tsunoda had used a different setup during the sprint and reported feeling better with his car. The team decided to move Verstappen in the same direction.
The results were catastrophic.
Verstappen’s previous advantages in sectors one and three completely disappeared. And the car’s weakness in sector two? Still there. The math was simple – even Verstappen’s legendary driving skills couldn’t drag the RB21 out of Q1.
Verstappen didn’t make it out of Q1 in Brazil – Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull now faces a brutal choice – completely rebuild the car’s setup from scratch. This would force Verstappen to start from the pit lane, but that’s barely worse than his P16 qualifying position. It might even create an opportunity to fit a fresh engine that could help in upcoming races.
But let’s be real – Verstappen needs a miracle to keep any title hopes alive.
He’s already admitted his championship chances have faded after this qualifying disaster. While he famously won from P17 in 2024, that was under very different conditions. With dry weather expected Sunday, he’ll need something truly special just to score points.
The championship is slipping away fast. Verstappen and Red Bull seemed to have found their groove after summer break with wins in Monza, Baku, and Austin.
Turns out that was just a false dawn.
Red Bull is back to square one while McLaren dominates up front.
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