Red Bull F1 DECLINE expected for 2025 as pressure piles on Christian Horner

Horner, Verstappen, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull DECLINE expected for 2025 as pressure piles on Horner

Red Bull suffered a huge downturn in performance during 2024

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Friday 10 January 2025 19:55 Updated: 21:15

Red Bull could face an even tougher Formula 1 season in 2025 than last term after a shock verdict was given over their season expectations.

The team that had dominated the 2023 campaign after winning all but one race slipped to third last term behind McLaren and Ferrari in a miserable defence of their constructors' championship title.

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Only Max Verstappen's outstanding season to keep his rivals at bay managed to paper over the cracks, as the Dutchman still managed to retain his world champion status - winning the drivers' title for the fourth season in a row.

Red Bull's year was further hit by personal scandals to team boss Christian Horner, who despite overcoming internal investigations now faces a huge job in trying to rearrange his team to return to the top despite having lost key personnel including Jonathan Wheatley to Sauber/Audi and legendary designer Adrian Newey to rivals Aston Martin.

Sergio Perez has also moved on after the driver's collapse in form throughout 2024 with a relatively unproven Liam Lawson replacing him as Verstappen's team-mate.

Verstappen's future has also been questioned at the team during a troubled 2024, with Horner's personal feud with the Dutchman's father Jos souring relations and fueling rumours of a shock switch to Mercedes which have since died down.

Max Verstappen fought hard to win the F1 title in 2024

Jonathan Wheatley (right) has moved on from Red Bull

Adrian Newey has joined F1 rivals Aston Martin

Where will Red Bull finish in F1 2025?

However, Verstappen could get itchy feet again if Red Bull do not sort out their performance woes over the winter and deny him the chance to win a fifth F1 world championship.

According to a GPFans poll, F1 fans now expect the team to slip further down the standings during 2025, with over a third of voters believing the team will fall to fourth in the constructors championship, likely behind Mercedes or even Aston Martin.

A quarter of voters believe they will remain treading water in third while another third are split between the team returning to the top or finishing as runners-up.

Just over ten per cent fear another collapse will be on the way to fifth or even lower in the standings.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Formula 1 2023