The Red Bull driver sees significant progress in drivability after setup changes – but tire overheating prevents attack on pole position
Max Verstappen had to settle for second place on the grid in qualifying for the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The four-time world champion was beaten by championship leader Oscar Piastri in the final lap.
“I saw that Oscar was ahead and knew it would be difficult to beat,” said Verstappen. “I tried to push again, but the more I pushed to the limit, the more the tires overheated. In the end, I just tried to get the lap finished.”
Tire temperatures remain the central issue at Red Bull: Throughout the weekend, the team struggled to keep the soft C6 Pirelli tires in the optimal working window – a phenomenon that improved somewhat thanks to setup changes, but could not be completely eliminated.
Confidence suddenly back
“The car feels much better than yesterday. I haven’t had this much confidence in the car for a long time,” said Verstappen. “But as soon as the tires overheat, it’s game over. Then you can’t compensate for that anymore, no matter how good the setup is.”
According to Verstappen, a medium tire in Q3, as used by George Russell and Aston Martin, would not have been a real alternative: “I thought about it briefly because it actually felt better in practice. But you don’t have enough fresh medium tires to really pull it off. And I wanted to save them for the race.”
Verstappen sees a clear improvement compared to Friday’s difficulties: “Yesterday was tough, but today we got the car better. The balance was also more comfortable. These are positive steps.” However, he adds that the subjective progress is not reflected as strongly in the lap times.
However, the biggest handicap remains: “We know that we’re heating the tires too much. That’s also our biggest weakness tomorrow. You can make ten updates to the car, but if you don’t have the tires under control, it doesn’t do you any good.”
Even when asked whether the upgrades on the Red Bull are working at all, Verstappen remains cautious: “They look different, sure. But the effect on lap times isn’t as big as you’d expect. On the other hand, we’ve made a good step forward with the setup.”
Favorite role at McLaren
In the race, the world champion sees McLaren with a clear advantage: “Oscar is at the front, Lando is right behind me. They are the favorites, no question. I’ve been on pole several times this year, but that hasn’t always helped us in the race. Points are up for grabs in the race, and that’s where we have to get them.”
What gives Verstappen hope, however, is that ”if you have enough pace, you can overtake—even at Imola. We just have to get a good start and then see how the car performs in the long run. Yesterday wasn’t particularly convincing. Maybe it will work better with the new setup.”
Verstappen does not question that McLaren is currently setting the benchmark in Formula 1: “They’re doing something really clever over there. I don’t know exactly what it is – otherwise we would have copied it already.”
He allows himself a touch of self-irony at the end: “We talk about it a lot internally, of course. And I have to say: AI is pretty helpful there! I use it myself – you can analyze a lot with it.” Whether it can also solve the tire problems remains to be seen.
