Helmut Marko reveals Max Verstappen headed to Red Bull factory after dismal Chinese GP
Max Verstappen has reportedly scheduled a visit to Red Bull's factory in Milton Keynes to work on the weak areas of the RB21 chassis.
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Christian Horner, Max Verstappen, and Helmut Marko (via IMAGO)
Red Bull has suffered from an extremely disappointing start to the 2025 season. The RB21 challenger seems inferior as compared to the rival teams at the forefront. Max Verstappen has still managed to maximize results over the race weekend. Red Bull debutant Liam Lawson on the other hand fails to amass any notable results after starting both the races from P20. Hence, after a dismal start to the year, Helmut Marko reveals that Verstappen will visit the team’s factory in hopes of finding improvement on the car.
Max Verstappen has remained critical of the pace of the RB21 chassis since the pre-season testing sessions. The Dutchman still managed to score over 36 points for the team in his two outings. Still, the reigning world champion is rendered unable to contend for the race wins against the superior pace of the McLarens. Hence, with Honda’s home race upcoming next weekend, Verstappen and the team hope for an improvement in the car and to become competitive once again.
To fix the recurring issues of the RB21, Verstappen has scheduled a visit to Red Bull’s factory in Milton Keynes. Helmut Marko revealed that the Dutchman would have a meeting with the engineers to work over the weak spots in the chassis. The Austrian noted that the team must find improvement as soon as possible. However, Marko accepted that fixing the fundamental issues of the challenger would take a lot of time as the team prepares for a massive challenge up ahead.
Max will visit the factory next week to discuss where the weak spots are. We have to improve the car as quickly as possible, but we know it will take time.
Helmut Marko told Motorsport.nl
Helmut Marko asserts McLaren ‘clearly ahead’ of Red Bull in 2025
McLaren developed yet another dominant chassis for the final year of the ground-effect era while Red Bull’s performance slump continues. Woking has achieved two out of two race wins in the 2025 season with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Meanwhile, Milton Keynes seems to be very detached from the forefront in terms of performance. Hence, Helmut Marko didn’t hesitate to accept that the Papaya squad was clearly superior to Red Bull in pace.
Marko initially highlighted that RB21’s pace and performance varied from track to track and even per tire compounds during the races. The uncertainty of the car still remained high as the challenger faced massive balance issues. Therefore, the 81-year-old blatantly acknowledged that Woking was clearly ahead of the Austrian constructor as they rushed to find improvements. The Austrian reckons that Milton Keynes must find something to counter McLaren’s superior pace on the grid.
We have seen that the picture can differ per circuit and even per compound. McLaren is clearly ahead and we have to find something to counter that.
Helmut Marko noted
Christian Horner believes Red Bull needs to make ‘significant progress’
Red Bull might be the fourth or even the fifth fastest team on the grid as depicted by the performance in the first two races. The team rushes to find crucial improvements that would help them remain in championship contention. If Milton Keynes does not find the required pace, they could lose the constructors’ championship early on in the season. Therefore, Christian Horner issued a warning to the Austrian constructor amidst their tumultuous pace.
Horner didn’t hesitate to acknowledge that achieving the Constructors’ Champion was a very tough ask for Red Bull. The 51-year-old believes that the team must find significant progress with the car to come close to championship contention. Moreover, the team principal fueled Liam Lawson‘s snubbing rumors by claiming that the team must have two drivers scoring points, something which they already suffered in the 2024 season.
The Constructors’ Championship is a very tough ask and we need to make significant progress with the car in order to even challenge for that. And you have to have two cars scoring, you know that obviously hurt us badly last year.
Christian Horner said, as reported by GPblog
Red Bull is currently in an extremely volatile state and must find some stability. The team is already looking at their options to make changes to the drivers’ lineup in hopes of scoring better results. Switching drivers doesn’t guarantee a boost in performance as the rumors strengthen of a driver swap. Time will tell about how the remainder of the 2025 season pans out for the team as they aim to find massive grounds for improvement over the coming weekends.
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