David Croft has heard that Red Bull designers ignored ‘undriveable’ warnings months before Christian Horner sacking

Follow us on Google Discover

Christian Horner would argue that there have been numerous positives in Red Bull’s 2025 season. Looking at the headline figures alone, the decision to sack Horner appears somewhat harsh.

Red Bull are the only one of McLaren’s rivals to have won multiple Grands Prix this year. They also rank second for pole positions with four.

But this largely reflects the team’s reliance on Max Verstappen’s brilliance. The Dutchman has remarkably scored 165 of the team’s 172 points.

Yuki Tsunoda, a highly-rated driver in F1’s midfield, has arguably exposed the car’s flaws. Red Bull would be bottom of the championship if they had two drivers at his level of production.

David Croft says critical warnings about Red Bull’s 2025 handling were ignored

Tsunoda was last on the road for the second consecutive race at the British Grand Prix last weekend. He has as many Q1 exits as he does Q3 appearances since his promotion from Racing Bulls (three).

Laurent Mekies will hope to revitalise Tsunoda as they reunite at Milton Keynes. But as David Croft explained on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Red Bull have furnished him with an ‘undriveable’ car.

The data suggested that the RB21 would be rapid, but there were ‘warnings’ that this wouldn’t carry over into the real world. The design team ‘ignored’ those concerns, and may now be suffering.

While he’s sitting third in the championship, Verstappen has repeatedly complained about Red Bull’s handling over the radio.

“I don’t know where we go with Yuki,” Croft said. “He’s still struggling with the car. It’s been a lot of races now. He’ll be there until the end of the season. We all want to see him do so much better.

“It was told to me at the British Grand Prix that Red Bull have basically designed a car that is the fastest possible car that the data could possibly suggest. But it’s undriveable.

“They were warned about it, in terms of the design team, but they ignored the warnings. It’s coming home to roost a little bit, and maybe they’re missing Adrian Newey.”

Adrian Newey’s concerns about his Red Bull successors were justified

Speaking in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport earlier this year, Adrian Newey suggested that a ‘lack of experience’ was playing a part in Red Bull’s difficulties. Verstappen won the championship last year, but their regression started over 12 months ago.

Newey predicted where the team would end up if they continued to explore the same ‘direction’. One could argue that the new-look design department have displayed their naivety.

Explaining why he left for Aston Martin, Newey said Red Bull felt a little ‘stale’. Horner’s departure completes an exodus of long-serving personnel.

But Damon Hill is concerned that Horner will leave a lasting void at the Austrian brand. He was appointed as team principal before their very first F1 race in 2005.