Red Bull’s Helmut Marko has described the team’s performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix as “very alarming” after Max Verstappen’s manager vented his anger post-race.
Verstappen salvaged sixth place when it looked like he would score less than a handful of points, overcoming pitstop issues and handling problems throughout the race.
The Dutchman is still only eight points behind championship leader Lando Norris and five adrift of race-winner Oscar Piastri.
However, his manager Raymond Vermeulen was seen shouting at Marko in the garage, while team principal Christian Horner, technical director Pierre Wache, chief engineer Paul Monaghan and Marko also held talks in the paddock.
“Very alarming. We know that we are not competitive, and there will be parts coming in the coming races, and hopefully they bring improvement,” said Marko.
“We have a lot of problems. The main problem is balance and grip, and out of this, I guess the problems with the brakes came up. Then the normal procedure like a pitstop is not working, so one [problem] comes after the other.”
He added: “We have to get, as soon as possible, performance in the car again and also standards like a pitstop have to work. The car is not the fastest and then the pitstops are not working. That is not acceptable.”
Horner: Bad weekend for the team
Verstappen’s superb win in Suzuka gave Red Bull hope but Bahrain suggested that victory could be a one-off before F1 gets to the European races in May.
The slow Red Bull pitstops in Bahrain, when the green light which tells the drivers to leave the pit box did not work, were likely caused by an electrical failure.
It put Verstappen out in traffic but he also had little pace on the hard tyres and, at one point, found himself running in last.
Yuki Tsunoda finished just three places behind Verstappen in ninth and had similar handling issues to the reigning world champion.
“It was a bad weekend for the team. Nothing went our way from the start of the race,” said Horner.
“We didn’t get off the line cleanly and the pitstops didn’t work well for us and the tyre temperatures got very high. If you’ve got a well-balanced car, the whole thing just comes together that much easier.
“But it’s a 24-race championship. We are eight points behind in the Drivers’ Championship and we know we need to make progress very quickly.
“So it was important to score the most points he [Verstappen] could in a difficult car. It’s how they add up at the end of the year that’s important.”
Verstappen: Bad tyre management will mean we are weak everywhere
Red Bull are already 80 points behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship after four rounds and Horner has admitted focus will be on giving Verstappen the best chance possible in the Drivers’ Championship.
Verstappen says he could not have finished higher than sixth in Bahrain and does not expect Red Bull to suddenly be back at the front this weekend in Saudi Arabia, where he was dominant 12 months ago.
“We are bad on tyre management at the moment. The balance is not where I wanted it to be and on a track like this it all gets highlighted, that’s for sure,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“The tyre degradation will be a bit lower in general [in Jeddah] but if you are poor on tyres, you are poor everywhere with management. Of course, there it’s probably a little bit less but it’s still going to be weaker than our competitors, so you just have to take that into consideration.
“At least maybe the layout will help a little bit but tyre management stays the same. If you are weak on it, you are weak on it everywhere.”
Formula 1 completes its first triple-header of 2025 in Jeddah with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
