Red Bull has painful news for Verstappen and Lawson

Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché has given a gloomy projection of how the Milton Keynes squad stacks up against its F1 rivals.

After three days of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, Red Bull's preparation for the campaign ahead is uncertain.

The six-time constructors' champion was plagued by intermittent reliability issues, and its programme was disrupted. Thus, neither Max Verstappen nor Liam Lawson completed a full race simulation.

Appraising how the test went for the team, Waché did not attempt to sugar-coat the situation.

"The first day was okay," the Frenchman told The Race. "[The second day], we didn't find a sweet spot.

"And we also had some issues. So it is difficult to say in terms of competitiveness at the moment."

Coupled with a trio of bizarre red flags in Bahrain, the interrupted running was particularly costly for Red Bull, as it was striving to remedy the issues it faced with the RB21's predecessor.

The RB20 started the 2024 season strong before tailing off as rivals McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes simultaneously leapt ahead to take chunks of lap time out of its once-healthy pace advantage.

While Verstappen could hold onto his drivers' title, the difficulties the team experienced with that car saw it slip from first to third in the constructors' standings.

It is the two outfits that beat Red Bull that Waché feels will start the campaign leading the charge, with only Mercedes not highlighted, although he does expect the Brackley squad to be in the fight.

"I think it will be tight," said the 50-year-old when discussing the expected pecking order once F1 gets to Melbourne for the season opener.

"At the moment it doesn't look like we are quick enough, but after we will see. It looks like McLaren and Ferrari are quicker."