Max Verstappen feels it is unrealistic for Red Bull to catch McLaren over the 2025 Formula 1 campaign as it pins hopes on small, gradual upgrades to cure handling issues.
Red Bull's balance problems were brutally exposed at last weekend's hot and demanding Bahrain Grand Prix, with Verstappen only passing Pierre Gasly's Alpine on the final lap to grab sixth, finishing 34 seconds behind McLaren's winner Oscar Piastri.
The horror weekend prompted post-race talks on how to approach the coming races while it is working in the factory to fast-track incremental updates.
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"Right now, it's not realistic to say we'll make such a big jump," Verstappen said. "But we are trying to find as much lap time as possible. It's just difficult to say how much we will improve exactly, and the others aren't sitting still either."
Verstappen is convinced former Red Bull designer Rob Marshall, who moved to McLaren last year and has been credited for his expertise on wing flexing, is a key element of McLaren's uptick in form. "Yeah, I do think he is making the difference there," he argued. "Once he joined you could see that clearly."
As far as Red Bull's own progress goes, the team is preparing update packages for Imola in May and Barcelona in June.
Verstappen appeared frustrated that the Milton Keynes-based squad is still suffering from the same balance issues as last year, but he feels the team at least has a better grasp of what is missing compared to the middle of last year, when it took until September's Italian Grand Prix to unearth more clues.
"Now we at least know what our problems are," he added. "Until Monza last year, it was more that we didn’t know where to look or what to search for. That’s a bit clearer now, which gives us hope that we can bring updates to hopefully change the balance of the car."
One silver lining was the team's better one-lap pace in Friday practice in Saudi Arabia, although it still seemed well behind McLaren on longer runs when rear tyre wear comes into play.
"I think that was the best Friday for quite a big while," team advisor Helmut Marko said.
"We made different set-ups and for the qualifying lap it's working - we are much closer to the McLarens. In the long run, unfortunately the tyre temperature is still too high.
"[After Bahrain] everybody was very open and they put all their experience in this set-up and we were not relying as much on simulations. The race track suits us far more than it was in Bahrain, but we made a step forward."
Asked about what to expect from Red Bull's update path, Marko said any improvements would be gradual rather than game changers.
"We made a small improvement here, so we hope that the same happens in Miami - and in Imola there are some [new parts]," the Austrian explained. "It's not a big upgrade, so it's step by step.
"The form can change in Barcelona [when rules on front wing flexing are tightened], but nobody knows until we try it, so we won't rely just on the new regulations from Barcelona onwards."
Meanwhile, Verstappen looks resigned to accept extending his four-year title streak will be a tough ask.
"This isn’t where we want to be of course, but what can I do? I can scream and shout, but that won’t help," he shrugged.
"Of course I want [a fifth title], but unfortunately you can’t always win everything."
