Red Bull has trump card up its sleeve for Spanish GP

Red Bull has a trump card up its sleeve for the Spanish Grand Prix, which could have a huge say in the second half of the 2025 F1 season. 

Following pre-season testing in Bahrain, McLaren has been outlined as the early title favourite heading into this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both impressed with exceptional race simulations, compared to Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. 

Red Bull's pace was good, although still adrift of McLaren. Ahead of the season-opener in Melbourne, Max Verstappen has also raised concerns with the RB21. 

However, one of the issues, flexi wings, could be set to change in the ninth round of the campaign in Spain. Red Bull complained during testing in Bahrain that both McLaren and Ferrari were using a mini-DRS, despite new FIA rules. 

Motorsport's governing body has introduced stricter rear wing flexi tests starting in Australia this weekend, whilst stricter front wing tests will come into effect from the Spanish GP. 

Secretly, it means Red Bull has a major trump card from when F1 heads to Barcelona. Of the top teams, Red Bull is the only outfit whose wing concepts were not based around flexi wings.

Whilst Red Bull does now have a flexi front wing at its disposal, the concept is built less around it than it seems at McLaren. 

Red Bull has only gone down this path since the FIA initially indicated that it would not intervene regarding flexi wings. 

A little bit of Red Bull and a little bit of Verstappen?

It means that when F1 arrives in Barcelona for the Spanish GP, McLaren will likely have to make a major change to its front wing to pass the stricter FIA tests. 

The Woking-based team does have time to develop a new front wing, it is still development time taken away from other areas. 

In theory, the stricter front wing tests could further tighten the gap between the top teams from the Spanish GP, in particular in Red Bull's favour. 

However, Red Bull is not expected to suddenly move ahead of McLaren. RacingNews365 technical analyst Paolo Filisetti estimates that Red Bull could potentially gain about a tenth and a half back on McLaren. 

According to Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, McLaren has a three tenths advantage over Red Bull, meaning this could be halved in Spain. All of a sudden, that is a margin where a driver like Verstappen could make a huge difference. 

Despite this, the Milton Keynes-based team must ensure it continues to develop the RB21, to ensure that it can capitalise on any serious performance changes its rivals experience when the new front wing flexibility tests are introduced.