“We’re not going to give away a championship": Red Bull driver pulls back the curtain on the team's development strategy in 2025

Red Bull sim driver Sebastian Buemi has made it clear that the team is not going to concede the 2025 F1 season and instead focus on the new regulations in 2026. The 2025 F1 season is a very interesting season because the field has converged due to the prescriptive nature of the regulations.

It was on evidence in 2024 as well when we had 4 different teams that won races. We had as many as 7 different drivers who won multiple races and as we head into 2025, there are expectations that we could have something similar once again. With that being said, there's the other side of the coin as well where 2025 is the last season of the current regulations.

In 2026 we have a completely new regulations and hence the scope of development and growth is going to be massive. When that is the case, it makes perfect sense for many teams to just switch focus to the new regulations and try to gain a headstart on the rivals. Red Bull famously did the same in 2009 and emerged as a title contender itself. The team also had the option to do so again in 2021 but didn't go for it as it was battling for the title against Mercedes.

When questioned if Red Bull could potentially do something on those lines and switch focus early to 2026, Sebastian Buemi said that the team was not going to give up on a title without a fight. Talking to Racingnews365, the Swiss said that there are obviously moments in the season when the focus shifts to the future but the team would not concede if the title is on the table. He said,

"We focus on both years. We’re not going to give away a championship just like that. But at some point, somewhere in the year, if you feel like you can’t achieve much in the season, you’re going to switch the focus a bit. Some teams have already switched focus to ’26. We try to develop both, but at some point there will be a compromise.”

Tough to explain what didn't work for Red Bull: Buemi

When questioned about what went wrong for Red Bull in 2024, Buemi admitted that it might be a bit hard to explain why things just didn't work out the way they should have. The former F1 driver was however confident that the team could potentially be in a position to do a better job now that the problems have been rectified. He said,

“My input has been the same. But I think it’s very, very complex to explain what didn’t go well. “As a team, we understand now what the issue was [with the RB20] and what was maybe not developed in the right way. “Now it’s just about making sure that we don’t hold back and understand exactly where it went wrong, and make sure we don’t lose too much time because in F1, the six months of development is massive."

He added,

“But this year, it’s a very complex year, because you have completely new regulations for next year. “[This year] you have to work on two cars, the ’25 car, and you have to work on a ’26 car. That is totally different. So at some point, it’s [about] how you want to share the resources.”

Red Bull has a big task at hand in 2025 because the team ended 2024 as the third fastest car. If the same form continues, it would be hard to see the team making a bid for the championship this season.