Verstappen fears Red Bull won't close McLaren gap soon

Max Verstappen says it is unrealistic to expect Red Bull to close its race pace deficit with McLaren in the short-term despite a range of upgrades coming to the 2025 Formula 1 car.

Verstappen finished 40 seconds behind McLaren's race winner Oscar Piastri at the most recent Miami Grand Prix, having beaten both McLarens to pole but then slumped back in the race as the Woking team's superior race pace came to the fore.

Following the introduction of a new floor on Verstappen's car, team-mate Yuki Tsunoda will also receive the latest spec in Imola, as both drivers get further upgrades at their disposal for Europe's first grand prix of the year.

When asked how much of a performance jump he is expecting from his latest version of the RB21, Verstappen said: "A little bit. But we have already had a few races with some updates, so this is again a little step forward. Hopefully we find a bit more performance in the car. But I don't expect, of course, to suddenly close the gap to McLaren."

Reflecting on a sobering Miami race, which team advisor Helmut Marko called depressing, he added: "The race pace was depressing for everyone except McLaren. No one was even in the same league there. That is, of course, a big concern."

In two weeks further upgrades are expected to arrive for Barcelona's Spanish Grand Prix, when a stricter technical directive on flexing front wings also comes into play.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

The clampdown is intended to rein in games being played around aero elasticity, which McLaren is believed to be at the forefront of. But Autosport understands the stricter load test is forcing most - if not all - teams to bring a new specification that is more robust, even those who have not been exploiting the phenomenon.

But while most observers are curious to see what will happen with McLaren's form, Verstappen doesn't think the FIA's new technical directive will change the world either.

"That will not give you eight tenths to a second, of course, [which was the gap] at times in Miami," he replied.

What is most concerning at this stage is that Red Bull and its rivals still haven't appeared to have figured out why McLaren is so easy on its rear tyres in high degradation races.

When asked how much Red Bull can get closer to McLaren on tyre management, Verstappen said: "It's a bit impossible to know until we figure it out. I don't know when or how we are going to figure it out. It takes time.

"It's also a bit track-specific. I guess it works a bit better for them because sometimes there's a bit more thermal degradation than others.

"The advantage will not always be that big. [Pirelli bringing its softest tyres to Imola] will not help in our case. We'll see."