Troubled Red Bull search for path back to fast lane

Here AFP Sport assesses the issues that threaten to derail Max Verstappen's quest for a fifth successive world title:

The state of play

Verstappen slipped to third in the drivers' standings, eight points behind McLaren's leader Lando Norris, after trailing in sixth, over half a minute behind Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri, in Bahrain.

He has accounted for all bar two of the team's tally in the constructors' championship where they are lagging a massive 80 points behind runaway leaders McLaren after just four races.

Crisis talks

As McLaren celebrated their third win from four in Sakhir, Red Bull convened a 'crisis' meeting involving their top brass.

Team principal Christian Horner, influential advisor Helmut Marko, technical director Pierre Wache, and chief engineer Paul Monaghan met to mull over the team's plight.

Horner, in a post-race media encounter in Red Bull's hospitality tent, had offered a blunt appraisal of where they were at.

"This race has exposed some pitfalls that are obviously very clear that we need to get on top of very quickly.

"Ultimately you can mask it a little through set-up and we were able to achieve that last weekend in Suzuka. We understand where the issues are, it's introducing the solutions that obviously takes a little more time," he said.

Verstappen, who was plum last at one stage at the Bahrain Grand Prix, lamented that "basically everything went wrong".

"It's of course not what we want, but it's just where we are at with our car and the tyre behaviour that we have with the car.

"Everything is just highlighted even more on a track like this," added the Dutchman.

One-man band

Red Bull would be in even worse shape if it wasn't for Verstappen's combative brilliance in cajoling a problematic car to fight with quicker rivals like McLaren and Mercedes.

His win in Japan in the first leg of this month's triple header was only down to arguably his greatest ever qualifying performance.

The machine's idiosyncracies proved too tough a riddle to solve for the unfortunate Liam Lawson, who was unceremoniously dropped to their sister team RB after just two races.

The Kiwi's successor Yuki Tsunoda finished out of the points in Suzuka before adding two from ninth place in Sakhir. 

Without an effective 'wingman' to help him in races Verstappen is left to do it all on his own.

Exodus of talent

It can surely be no coincidence that Red Bull's malaise comes after some of their brightest brains have jumped ship.

The team were shocked when legendary design guru Adrian Newey, at the heart of developing cars that won seven drivers' and six constructors' championships, quit to join Aston Martin.

Another huge loss was the departure of sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who took up his new role as Sauber team principal this month.

Red Bull's head of race strategy Will Courtenay also left, for McLaren, where former chief designer Rob Marshall had moved to in 2023.

Max's future?

Verstappen, who has been with the Red Bull family since 2015, has a deal running until 2028.

In an interview with AFP in Mexico last October he said it was "definitely" his intention to see out his time at Red Bull, despite the tension surrounding Horner last season after he was accused of inappropriate conduct towards a woman colleague.

Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing ahead of the 2024 season-opener but the off-track scandal rumbled on for weeks.

Yet on Monday, Marko dropped a bombshell, telling Sky Germany he has "great concern" that unless Red Bull up their game, Verstappen could up sticks. 

"The concern is great. Improvements have to come in the near future so that he has a car with which he can win again," Marko warned.

"We have to create a basis with a car so that he can fight for the world championship."

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