How Red Bull masterplan ‘stole’ the Sprint – Red Bull Racing are the masters of strategic decision making in the sport of Formula One. For years the Adrian Newey designed cars were crafted with a high rake design intended to add downforce to the car by raising the rear.
Mercedes by comparison had a front and rear end raised at a similar height to each other and with their mighty V6 Turbo hybrid they preferred power over the more complex Red Bull designs.
Yet come the era of the ground effect cars in 2022, the Red Bull philosophy had to change given around 50% of the downforce now comes from the underfloor which by channeling low air pressure sucks the car to the ground.
Verstappen rapid on the straights
For the ground effect cars to work, the platform must remain as level as possible, with any dive or roll of the body breaking the air seal which pulls the car down on the track. This meant years of Red Bull car designs had to be rethought.
The tactic in the Vettel era of dominance would be to set the car up for the German ace to claim pole, by maximising the car through the corners with incremental downforce. Sebastian would then put in two or three exceptional laps at the start of a race, putting himself out of range of attack, with the downforce giving him great tyre longevity.
In the current set of car regulations and with the current tyres, downforce is still the driver’s best friend. In Spa Red Bull made the contra decision do run a ‘skinny’ rear wing and low downforce aero package and in practice and Sprint qualifying Verstappen was rapid in sectors 1 and 3 where downforce is less important on through the flat out high speed turns and long straights.
In SQ2 Verstappen was over 0.4 seconds quicker than the McLaren’s in sector 1 and again quicker but by less time in sector 3. Norris made up the time being more than half a second quicker in sector 2. And indeed this was the quickest was to complete a full lap as Piastri showed by claiming pole by over half a second from Verstappen.
Red Bull masterplan delivered
The medium tyres which the front runners used in the Sprint, were also suffering lower degradation than expected before the weekend. This also played into Verstappen’s hands given in sector two without the downforce of the McLaren’s Verstappen’s tyre wear was minimal meaning across the 15 laps the McLaren’s never developed a tyre wear advantage over the Red Bull.
Red Bull’s plan was for Max to overtake Piastri at the start and having such a huge advantage over the McLaren through the run from turn one, through Eau Rouge and up the long Kemmel straight into Les Combes turn 5. Come lights out this is exactly what happened.
The question was whether he would be able to keep the to McLaren’s behind him for the rest of the Sprint, something he did by his own admission by delivering “15 qualifying laps.” The huge advantage Piastri had in clean air over the whole lap in qualifying was nullified as in sector 2, the Red Bull created enough turbulent air for the McLaren not to be able to operate efficiently.
Piastri was pressing hard, even dipping a wheel or two into the gravel at Stavelo. But Verstappen was able to hold off the challenge from the championship leader to claim his twelfth sprint win, no other driver has more than two.
Wolff shocking reaction to Horner LIVE on TV
McLaren conundrum for the Grand Prix
The McLaren team boss admitted the team now faced something of a conundrum. Whether they stick with their current setup, or ditch some of the downforce as Red Bull have done. The decision is made tricky by the fact the Grand Prix is three times longer than the Sprint and it is expected there will be two pit stops with the teams avoiding the slower hard tyre on Sunday. The problem for McLaren is should they follow the Red Bull low downforce setup, the risk losing some of their advantage over the entire lap in qualifying.
By retaining their current setup, McLaren will hope that incremental tyre degradation in the longer race will affect Red Bull more than it does them – as has been the case for most of 2025. This together with the fact they should be able to run different strategies on both their cars, restricting Verstappen from covering off both strategic options, may well be the key to one of their drivers winning the Grand Prix.
Red Bull have little option but to continue with a ‘slippery’ car which is fast in sector 1 and 3 and hope the less than expected tyre degradation continues over 45 laps. The decision by the Woking based team will become quickly apparent in the first of the qualifying sessions, although its unlikely they will run their cars with differing downforce levels.
McLaren must prevent a Verstappen pole
Meanwhile question marks remain over both Ferrari and Mercedes abilities to make any impression on the leading three drivers. Lewis Hamilton made little progress in the Sprint form his starting position of eighteenth. Charles Leclerc managed to pass Lando Norris on the opening lap of the Sprint, but the limitations of the SF-25 were quickly exposed as there positions were reversed two laps later.
Russell who started in P13 managed to improve by one place at the chequered flag and Kimi Antonelli costumes his run of miserable form could only manage P17.
The hope for McLaren must be that Max Verstappen does not claim pole position this afternoon, or the Vettel ‘run and hide’ tactic may return. The papaya liveried team require one of their drivers to inside qualifying ahead of the world champion, to give them a strategic advantage come the pit stops on Sunday.
Pirelli Belgium F1 tyre experiment fails
Pirelli were there when it all began back in 1950 as one of three tyre suppliers to Formula One. Firestone, Dunlop and Englebert also supplied a number of the teams, but in their five year stint in the sport, Pirelli claimed 32 Grand Prix victories whilst the rest combined achieved just nine in the same period.
With no explanation, Pirelli then pulled its support for F1 only to return in 2011 when Bridgestone walked away after refusing to comply with the new FIA requirements. Having suffered years of processional racing in the naughties, F1’s governing body decided they wished their tyre supplier to produce a product which deliberately degraded, forcing the teams to make multiple pit stops for fresh rubber which would add to the strategic entertainment.
Bridgestone argued that creating a tyre not to last would damage their brand and so refused the FIA’s request to change their specifications which opened the door to Pirelli, who have supplied the F1 teams ever since…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
