F1 News: Extreme flexing as Red Bull ‘resolves’ 2024 car problems

(GMM) As all teams, including Red Bull, have adopted McLaren’s front Flexi-Wings, a full pecking order will have to wait for now, but insiders are already starting to get an idea of which teams and drivers will lead once the 2025 season gets racing in Melbourne next month.

Official pre-season testing began in Bahrain on Wednesday, where a total power outage marred the end of running on day one. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that in modern Formula 1,” observed Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko.

He was already surprised about the weather.

“We thought that there would be sun and warmth, but it’s even colder than in Europe,” Marko smiled to Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

As for the timesheet, it was early 2025 favorite Lando Norris at the top, followed predictably by Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferraris. Lewis Hamilton, however was a full second off Charles Leclerc’s pace.

“McLaren was very consistent and fast, as was Mercedes,” Marko said, “although the temperatures could explain why Mercedes was so fast.”

As for Ferrari and Hamilton in particular, the Austrian added: “I expected more from them.

“But it is too early for a final verdict because there are still two days of testing left. We will see.”

As for Red Bull, technical boss Pierre Wache pushed back on the narrative that the ‘new’ car is basically a carbon-copy of its predecessor, which only finished third in the constructors’ championship behind McLaren and Ferrari.

“We have made major changes to the car, but most of them are not visible,” the Frenchman acknowledged, referring specifically to the cooling system and floor.

“We have also responded to the FIA’s interpretation of the flexibility of the front wing.”

The latter is a particularly interesting comment, given that stricter flexibility rules for the front wing will only come into force in Barcelona in round nine.

Red Bull is critical of the decision, arguing that it will turn 2025 into an expensive two-part world championship in the final year of the current regulations.

Observers noted that the front wing flexibility on the new Aston Martin is particularly extreme, while Red Bull boss Christian Horner observed that just about every car on the 2025 grid is very much looking like a Red Bull.

“Only Ferrari has gone a different way,” he said.

As for Red Bull, both Marko and Max Verstappen sounded very pleased with the progress the team has made over the winter to improve handling.

“Max’s long runs were the best in the field,” Marko said. “We were faster than McLaren and Mercedes, especially with old tires.”

The 81-year-old said Verstappen only failed to top the overall times because he “wobbled on his best lap”.

“In terms of driving,” quadruple world champion Verstappen said, “everything felt good. No negative surprises, just good surprises, so that’s positive.

“We don’t know where we are in terms of pace yet, but everything is working well and the car is doing what I want. We have everything under control and that’s all we can hope for at the start of testing.”

Marko went even further, optimistically declaring: “I think the problems we had last year have been largely resolved, or perhaps even completely resolved.”