Red Bull's Usual Qualifying Trick Fails in Hungary

Red Bull's characteristic ability to transform a difficult Friday into a competitive Saturday vanished at the Hungarian Grand Prix, resulting in Max Verstappen's worst qualifying performance of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Why it matters

Verstappen qualified eighth in Q3, marking his lowest grid slot of the year, worse than his seventh places in Austria and Bahrain. This uncharacteristic struggle for Red Bull suggests a deeper issue than typical setup adjustments.

The struggle for grip

Verstappen reported a severe lack of grip, stating, "not been a single lap or a single corner that I've felt good. The whole weekend so far has just been sliding." He noted that Red Bull was "happy to be in Q3" given how often he was outside the top 10 during practice. Despite numerous setup changes, nothing provided a clear direction or positive feedback, a stark contrast to their usual development process.

Pierre Waché, Red Bull's technical director, admitted on Friday that "nothing is responding as expected," a sentiment echoed by Verstappen on Saturday, who remarked, "somehow this weekend nothing seems to work."

Race outlook

While Verstappen has a history of impressive comebacks from lower grid positions, he cautioned, "Back in the day, huh?" He believes the RB21's current performance is far from matching McLaren, Ferrari, or Mercedes, making a charge to the front challenging. He anticipates a difficult race and is also wary of fast cars behind, like Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes.

An 'uncomfortable' lesson

New Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies acknowledged the persistent grip issues. "We have tried many things across both cars, with both Yuki Tsunoda and Max, and it is fair to say we have not given our drivers the car they wanted," Mekies stated. He sees this challenging weekend as a crucial learning opportunity, emphasizing the need to use the data constructively to improve.

The Tsunoda positive

Despite the team's overall struggles, Yuki Tsunoda demonstrated a positive step forward. He was only 0.163s slower than Verstappen in Q1 and has consistently shown closer pace to him this weekend than in any other round this season. Tsunoda feels his recent mid-season upgrade has brought his RB21 closer to Verstappen's spec, allowing him to be "consistently close to Max." He still aims for further improvement but sees his relative pace as something to be proud of.