Are the F1 rules working as designed. Has Red Bull been caught?

Two of the last three championship races in Miami, Imola and Monaco were unsuccessful for Red Bull. Max Verstappen was unable to achieve the same outstanding results as in the previous races, and his teammate Sergio Perez ultimately failed three racing weekends.

In this regard, there was much talk about a possible crisis in the team, which has been invincible over the past few years. Let’s figure out what is causing such poor results and whether current events can be called the beginning of the fall of Red Bull.

The main reasons for Red Bull’s recent failures

Red Bull has dominated F1 over the past few years. In some races, her advantage over her rivals in all aspects was so great that her rivals did not even dream of winning the grand prix. However, this season, the situation has changed. Red Bull began to periodically lose to Ferrari and McLaren and lost their previously achieved advantage in the overall championship. This happened due to three main reasons, each of which we will tell you in detail.

The Rules working as intended

Well, it’s inevitable that Red Bull will be caught. The rules give more aero development time as you go down the order of Championship finishing position. Red Bull gets the least amount of wind tunnel time as all other teams.

We’re in year three of these regulations, and it’s inevitable that you’re going to get convergence. It’s amazing that they’ve managed to stay ahead for so long. But as the cars converge in look and shape and therefore lap time, it’s inevitable that there’s going to be strong competition.

Unsuitable Venues

One of the main reasons for Red Bull’s recent failures is the uniqueness of the tracks in Miami, Imola and Monaco. All of them are replete with slow turns abd curbs, which are the main problem of the season for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The Red Bull does not perform well over curbs

Good work by competitors

The excellent work of Ferrari and McLaren is cited as an essential reason for Red Bull’s relative failures. They were able to achieve significant progress, and not Red Bull, who worsened their car. The updates introduced at the recent Grand Prix helped to achieve good results and reduce the gap between the Milton Keynes team to a minimum. Most of the changes introduced by Ferrari and McLaren affected the powertrain and aerodynamics. In particular, the Italians, thanks to their new products, improved downforce and optimized the car’s fuel consumption. The cooling system was also improved, which made it possible to increase the efficiency of the power plant in extreme heat or at more favorable air temperatures.

Before criticizing Red Bull, it is also essential to understand that the Milton Keynes team is already working on the car for the 2025 season, so there is less focus on the current vehicle. Due to competitors’ approach in the championship, they may reconsider their attitude towards the current car and be able to break away from them again. So far, we have not seen any significant improvements from Red Bull, which has hurt their results. At the same time, Ferrari and McLaren continue to improve their cars. If the effectiveness of their new products continues to be as high, then Max Verstappen may have serious problems winning his 4th world title.

Conflicts within the team

No matter how Red Bull tried to hide the situation within the team, it failed to do so. Many facts have confirmed inevitable disagreements between Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Adrian Newey, the most outstanding engineer in F1 history. Their joint work enabled the team to return to the top and become the hegemon of modern Formula 1. Both Red Bull leaders deny the existence of any conflict, but without its absence, Newey would hardly have announced that he was leaving the team after the end of his contract.

Problems in managing Red Bull forced three-time world champion and the best driver of our time, Max Verstappen, to consider moving to another team. The media have repeatedly published controversial statements by the Dutchman and his father. However, there are no specifics yet. Verstappen’s contract with Red Bull ends in 2028, so the likelihood of him moving to competitors is relatively low. At the same time, Max is in excellent relations with Newey and Horner and does not want to break up their tandem. Today, many teams are taking advantage of the conflict in Red Bull and trying to lure many of its representatives. In particular, Adrian Newey has already turned down several teams that would like to have him. The same thing happens with Max Verstappen, the demand for whose services is as high as possible.

Prospects for the current and next season

From the 2026 season, numerous changes to the regulations will come into force, due to which teams will have to build their cars almost from scratch. Therefore, making any forecasts for this and subsequent years would be wrong. Nevertheless, you can try to predict the events of the end of the current season and the 2025 championship. There are 16 races left this year. Most will take place on classic racing circuits and not city tracks. This option is perfect for Red Bull. They will likely be the fastest on them, but the gap from competitors should become smaller. Representatives of Ferrari and McLaren express approximately the same hypothesis. However, Red Bull’s competitors still lack stability, and in F1, it is one of the main components of success in the overall championship.

Unrlated Article: Their current cars look like a salvage Ford Mustang or other sports car that has been carefully restored, modified and made to go faster

More exciting events await fans in 2025. Next season, Ferrari and McLaren plan to impose competition on Red Bull from the first races and not let them go as far as what happened this year. However, as mentioned earlier, the team from Milton Keynes is already working on next season’s car while their competitors are finalizing the current version.

Theoretically, this could be another surprise for Red Bull, forcing rivals to fight again for only 2nd and 3rd place. At the same time, most experts express that the situation at Red Bull may have escalated to the limit by the following season. This will create additional nervousness for Max Verstappen and his future teammate (it is not yet known who he will be) and force him to make more mistakes than is happening now. The current and next championships will be as enjoyable as possible, so we advise you not to miss a single race.