Max Verstappen reveals concerning issue with Red Bull car after the first day of the 2025 F1 Australian GP

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen revealed that he struggled with his RB21 during the first day of the 2025 Australian Grand Prix given that he had no grip available to him from the tires. The Dutch driver looked a bit out of sorts with the car during the first two practice sessions as he struggled with balancing issues in the first two practice sessions.

Heading into the season opener, there was a cloud over the real performance of the Austrian team given that they had focused on understanding more about the car during the three days of testing and did not complete any low-fuel runs. After finishing P5 and P7 in the FP1 and FP2 sessions respectively, Max Verstappen assessed the car's performance and the issues he faced in the two hours of running on Friday. As per F1.com, the reigning four-time F1 world champion said:

“To be honest, the balance wasn’t even completely out. No massive or major problems. But somehow, the grip was not coming alive. I was just struggling on all four tires, really, in Sector 1 and the last sector. That means, of course, that were are not really up there at the moment.”

When asked if the problems could be resolved ahead of the all-important qualifying on Saturday, the Red Bull driver said:

“The problem is that it’s not really like I have major balance problems. I think it will be a bit hard to fix. It’s also nothing that I didn’t expect when I arrived here. I’m not positively or negatively surprised with the pace we are showing. We just have to make sure that we find a bit more pace, but at the moment we are definitely lacking a bit to fight up front.”

Max Verstappen looked competitive against his rivals when he hooked up a lap and was within range of pace setters like Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull advisor chimes in on Max Verstappen's chances of race win

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko stated that he believed that both Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson were not in contention for a race win at the Australian Grand Prix and the best they could target was a podium.

Speaking with Sky Sports Germany, the Austrian reflected on the car's problems and said:

“[The car] was fluctuating between understeer and oversteer – which, of course, affects tyre wear in the long run. But I believe we know what needs to be done. We’re not at the very front but, under normal conditions, a podium finish would be the maximum we can aim for.”

Max Verstappen has not lost the driver's championship lead since the Spanish GP in 2022, when he overtook Charles Leclerc, and has led from the front ever since.