Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson’s Red Bull debut for RB21 announced

Red Bull Racing's 2025 car, piloted by Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson, will make its debut a day before the season's pre-season testing session at the Bahrain International Circuit. The RB21, whose livery will be revealed before the car makes its debut, is the first Red Bull car to be designed without Adrian Newey. The Brit had designed all of the team's championship-winning cars, but he has moved to Aston Martin for the upcoming season.

The RB21's livery will be shown off at the F1 75 event, taking place at the O2 arena in London on February 18th. The event will see the attendance of all the teams, as well as their principals and drivers. Christian Horner, Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson will all be there to show off the car's look at the sport's 75th anniversary celebration. On February 25th, the RB21 will launch at the team's filming day in Sakhir, Bahrain. Verstappen will be in the car first, followed by his new teammate, with the team allowed upto 200km on Pirelli demonstration tyres.

The new car was designed by a team led by French engineer, Pierre Waché, who spoke about how the car is built with the intention of moving forward, performance-wise. In an interview with PlanetF1 during last year's Belgian Grand Prix, Waché highlighted the team's thinking for the new vehicle. He said:

"At the moment, the idea is to develop this concept, develop this car as much as possible.

“Then, [for 2025], we evaluate the concept that we will put on track – that it will be different than [the RB20], for sure, and try to find another step of performance.”

Red Bull Racing finished third place in the Constructors' standings last year, after winning the championship in 2022 and 2023. They completed the season having scored 589 points.

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Max Verstappen expresses his hopes for 2025 livery

Max Verstappen on track in action with the RB20 car, during the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen has also expressed his excitement towards seeing the new car. He is hoping for a different look this season, given that the team has stuck with the same colours since the Dutchman's debut with the team in 2016.

Appearing on the Talking Bull podcast at the end of December, the driver relayed his desire for something exciting. He pointed to older cars behind him from the Austrian team that had glossier liveries.

"I was actually talking about it today, I actually really like these cars as well with the shiny colour. We’ve had so many matte-blue cars, but I think sometimes it’s just nice to spice it up a little bit." [via PlanetF1]

Max Verstappen completed his ninth season driving for Red Bull this past year, scoring his fourth World Drivers' Championship with the team. He finished last year, having added nine wins and 14 podiums to his record.