Red Bull dealt Max Verstappen ‘severe’ problem with their British Grand Prix upgrade that was ‘too effective’

Follow us on Google Discover

Max Verstappen scored pole position for the 2025 F1 British Grand Prix, yet the Red Bull driver will want to forget his latest visit to Silverstone after his fifth-place finish.

The Milton Keynes natives deciding to favour a dry set-up with a low downforce rear wing in Northamptonshire paid off last Saturday, as Verstappen scored pole for the British GP with a 1:24.892 lap. Yet it did not pay off in the race as the 27-year-old fought to stay on the circuit.

Verstappen branded his Red Bull RB21 ‘undrivable’ during the British GP, with the Dutchman often wrestling with his steering wheel to keep the car facing the right way in a wet-dry-wet-dry race. Red Bull had hoped the forecasted 20% chance of rain would not arrive, but it did.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri passed Verstappen for the lead of the British GP on Lap 8 of 52 on the Hangar Straight after the Red Bull ace ran wide through Becketts. Another wobble at Becketts on L11 also saw Lando Norris pass Verstappen as he hit the escape road at Chapel.

Red Bull gave up on optimising their British Grand Prix floor upgrade on Max Verstappen’s car

Verstappen even spun exiting Stowe during the safety car restart on Lap 21, which let Norris regain second place having lost it back to his Red Bull rival after a slower pit stop. He slipped to P10 but climbed back into fifth place, albeit 56.781s behind as Norris won the British GP.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Red Bull’s decision to fit their low-downforce rear wing, then, proved to be a huge mistake in the wet conditions. But it was a decision the Milton Keynes crew made based on Verstappen lamenting his ‘severe’ understeer in the dry throughout practice at the British GP last Friday.

According to Mark Hughes, Verstappen reported his RB21 was susceptible to ‘severe’ levels of understeer on Friday thanks to the floor upgrade that Red Bull debuted at the British GP. But the upgrade was actually delivering the increased downforce that Red Bull had forecast.

Red Bull’s data from their floor upgrade at Silverstone matched their pre-event simulations. However, the issue was that the aero balance was more rearwards than Red Bull wanted, so Verstappen – as Yuki Tsunoda did not get the updated floor – did not enjoy his car’s balance.

In fact, Red Bull’s floor upgrade at Silverstone was ‘essentially too effective’ on the rear axle of Verstappen’s car without further tweaks to the front wing. So, Red Bull gave up on trying to find a balance which suited their floor upgrade and intended wing levels come Saturday.

The team thus opted to bank on the British GP staying dry and Red Bull gave Verstappen the low-downforce rear wing for qualifying that they designed for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. It improved his car’s balance, yet did not offer enough rear downforce in the wet on Sunday.

Red Bull must consider taking their upgraded floor off Max Verstappen’s car

Red Bull now have a tricky decision to make regarding what their next step is with the floor upgrade that Verstappen ran at the British GP. While it improved the rear downforce levels like they simulated, it was just useful in the dry and while using a low downforce rear wing.

If the Belgian GP on July 25-27 is a fully dry weekend, then it will likely not hurt Verstappen for Red Bull to run the same set-up he struggled with in the wet in the British GP. Yet if rain is on the forecast at Spa, then Red Bull will have to weigh up taking their upgrade off his car.

Red Bull will not want to take the upgrade off Verstappen’s car, though, given the gains they found in terms of rear downforce with the floor fitted. It will especially be a last resort now Helmut Marko is clear Verstappen’s 2025 F1 title bid is ‘over’ with him 69 points off Piastri.