Red Bull backed for surprise F1 title surge: 'It would not take much'

Four-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Sebastien Buemi believes Red Bull does not need to inject much more pace into its car in order to put itself back in title contention.

The Milton Keynes-based squad has endured a challenging start to the new season, with rivals McLaren easily possessing the fastest car.

McLaren has won seven races compared to Red Bull's two, both of which have come via Max Verstappen who currently sits third in the drivers' standings - 49 points down on championship leader Oscar Piastri.

The F1 teams are also dealing with the headache of splitting resources between the current car and next year's competitors, which are being constructed under fresh technical regulations.

Buemi, who also races full-time in Formula E as well as his duties in the World Endurance Championship, has long been associated with Red Bull as a development driver.

Speaking on an upcoming episode of the RacingNews365 podcast, Buemi hailed Verstappen's abilities to extract the potential out of any car handed to him.

“That’s always the big, big question,” Buemi said, when asked about how Red Bull is planning to split its resources. “I've not been in during the last few weeks, so it's difficult to have a clear picture.

“But Max can overperform the car. He got three pole positions this year, but many times it was extremely close.

“If you look at the race in Barcelona where they had the safety car, he was not that far. I think he was four seconds behind [Lando] Norris.”

Red Bull 'will not give up'

Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché revealed to RacingNews365 that his team is currently placing roughly 70 per cent focus on the 2025 car.

McLaren's strong start to the season has placed it as the firm favourite for title success this year.

However, Buemi has voiced support for Red Bull to make the necessary improvements to place Verstappen back in contention as he targets a fifth consecutive title.

“It would not take that much for the car to get better and have a real opportunity to fight against them properly,” Buemi added.

“We’ve seen that he can on some occasions, depending on the track. I don't think Red Bull is going to just give up and fully focus on next year.

“It’s a well-organised team, you know, they can do things at the same time.

“At some point, if you realise it's you have nothing to gain anymore, you want to make sure you have a head start into 2026.”

The RacingNews365 podcast episode with the full Sebastian Buemi interview is due to be released on Monday 9 June at 3pm UK (4pm CET).