Verstappen says the RB21 issues are 'not to be blamed solely' on data issues

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has said that he "would not blame" the issues with the RB21 solely on the difference in data between wind tunnel and simulations compared to on-track action.

Red Bull Racing have had a tight start to the 2025 season, with the RB21 causing problems out on track due to its difficult nature, with Verstappen so annoyed at his car and the braking issues he faced at the Bahrain Grand Prix that he did not want to talk to anyone at the Austrian team in the post-race debrief.

The Dutchman also spoke about the changes that will happen to the current pecking order of teams on the grid when the new regulation changes for the 2026 season come into effect.

Verstappen confident in Red Bull's past results following new regulations

Earlier this season, it was indicated that the results from the simulations and the wind tunnel did not perfectly match the performances on the track. However, Verstappen does not want to use that as a full excuse for the RB21's poor performance: "Well, I wouldn't blame everything on that," he said.

"The others have caught up with us, that's clear. Of course, we've also made improvements, but not as much as some other teams," the Red Bull driver responded to a question from GPblog.

But of course, with the regulation changes occurring, the Dutchman knows that anything can happen: "Then you'll of course get a completely different car. You can't compare them. It might just be that another team gets it all right then."

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Red Bull has previously shown to be capable of handling rule changes well, and as a result, Verstappen is not too worried about what may come for his team once 2025 is done and dusted.

"That went well in 2022 and 2023, of course, with those new regulations. That was in the same winter. And even before that, in 2021, we also had a fairly strong car. Another generation of cars. And at the start of the new regulations in 2014, 2015, and later in 2016, Red Bull also had a very good car. Only the engine wasn't up to level," concluded the 27-year-old.