“Head-scratching” as Racing Bulls out-pace Red Bull in F1 Australian GP practice

Christian Horner will be scratching his head in confusion after Red Bull were outperformed by their sister team on Friday at the F1 Australian Grand Prix, it was claimed.

Racing Bulls duo Yuki Tsunoda and rookie Isack Hadjar were fourth and sixth on the practice timesheet respectively.

Although Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and both McLarens went faster, and Lewis Hamilton was between them, it was an outstanding start to the 2025 F1 campaign for Racing Bulls.

“Both drivers are doing a great job, showing a lot of confidence,” Karun Chandhok told Sky Sports.

“Hadjar particularly, on his first day as a grand prix driver, to be ahead of Verstappen!

“I imagine there are stern conversations going on back-and-forth.

“It’s on Friday and we don’t know the engine modes. But [Racing Bulls] will sleep well tonight.

“I’m not sure that the Red Bull camp will. He was six tenths away from Leclerc’s time.”

Red Bull 'head-scratching' after F1 Australian GP practice

Max Verstappen was seventh in practice for the F1 Australian Grand Prix, while his new teammate Liam Lawson was worryingly 17th.

Given McLaren entered the season expected to possess the fastest car, and Ferrari had hype surrounding Hamilton and the competitiveness of their SF-25, it was an early setback for Red Bull.

“Max was deep into Turn 1 and 3, he couldn’t get the car stopped. His drive was edgy,” Chandhok assessed.

“Lawson didn’t look comfortable. At no point did he pop up on the timesheet.

“Even when he went from the medium to the soft, he was still behind Max’s medium time.

“It’s been a tough day, he was six tenths away from Max.

“There will be some head-scratching.

“But tomorrow is a fresh day and we’ll see if they can drag themselves out.”

Read more: Long run data analysis establishes McLaren and Ferrari pecking order in Australia

Red Bull are no strangers to turning a below-par Friday into an outstanding Saturday, particularly with Verstappen behind the wheel of their car.

Verstappen, who is chasing a fifth consecutive drivers’ title this season, claimed the balance of his RB21 was fine but he struggled with grip.

He conceded that the nature of his problems might be difficult for his engineers to solve before qualifying.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also mounted a defence of Lawson, who was half-a-second slower than Verstappen in practice.

Lawson occupies the unenviable role of Verstappen’s teammate, a status which has chewed up five previous drivers.

Horner admitted that Lawson was slow on Friday but insisted he was a rookie (despite him driving in 11 grands prix prior to 2025), and that he would be given time to grow into his role.