Horner admits improving RB21 will ‘take a little more time’

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the performance issues impacting its RB21 car are understood by the team, but introducing solutions will likely “take a little more time”.

After taking a commanding win in Suzuka earlier this month, Max Verstappen was never in a position to challenge for a spot among the frontrunners in Bahrain last weekend.

The underperformance reflected the inconsistencies Red Bull has endured since the start of the 2025 season, leading to what Horner labeled as “pitfalls” in the RB21’s design, several of which echoed the struggles of 2024.

At the core of Red Bull’s conundrum is a perplexing disconnect between the team’s wind tunnel data and the car’s on-track performance.

“I think we understand where the issues are, it's introducing the solutions that obviously take a little more time,” Horner admitted.

“I think the problems are understood, I think the problem is that the solutions with what we see within our tools compared to what we're seeing on track at the moment aren't correlating and I think that's what we need to get to the bottom of, why can we not see within our tools what we're seeing on the circuit?”

The discrepancy has left the team feeling disoriented in its own development cycle.

“When you end up with a disconnect like that, you have to obviously unpick it, we've got a strong technical team that have produced some amazing cars over the last few years and I'm confident that they'll get to the bottom of this issue,” Horner elaborated.

“But it's literally the tool isn't replicating with what we're seeing on the track and then it's at that point, it's like telling the time on two different watches.”

From Title Defense to Technical Troubles

The RB21’s struggles are not entirely new. Horner confirmed that Red Bull is dealing with “similar” issues to those faced during the back half of 2024, when Verstappen had to wrestle with a car that was already showing signs of decline.

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“Ultimately you can mask it a little through set-up and we were able to achieve that in Suzuka but I think this race [in Bahrain] has exposed some pitfalls that obviously very clearly that we have that we need to get on top of very quickly,” Horner said.

The timing couldn’t be more critical. With the 2025 season marking the final year before a major rules reset, Red Bull was hoping to ride the wave of its previous success.

Data-Driven Recovery and the Road Ahead

Despite the complications, Horner remains optimistic. With four races under their belt – Australia, China, Japan, and Bahrain – the team now has a broader dataset to analyze and correct the course.

The focus is on understanding how to restore Verstappen’s confidence at key moments in a lap.

“I think it's clear we understand what the problem is, it's implementing the solution.

"It's the entry phase into the mid-corner that needs addressing and giving him [Verstappen] the ability and grip and confidence that takes carry speed into entry of corners, now that's fundamentally an aero issue that we need to be able to give him that grip,” Horner said.

But with development limitations under the current regulations, any significant upgrade becomes harder to achieve.

“The problem that we have is that we're at the end of a set of regulations where the gains are very, very marginal and I think we're seeing some of the shortcomings in our current tunnel,” he added.

With the season unfolding, Red Bull’s resolve is unshaken. Horner’s confidence in his team’s ability to unravel the RB21’s mysteries offers a glimmer of hope.

As they navigate this technical tempest, one thing is certain: in the world of Formula 1, time may be ticking, but Red Bull is determined to set their watches right.

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