The first half of the 2025 Formula 1 season has brought a curious paradox for the Red Bull Racing empire. On one side of the garage, Max Verstappen’s RB21 has proven to be a moody, temperamental diva, only delivering its best when everything is perfectly aligned. On the other, the Racing Bulls VCARB 02 has been behaving like an obedient, well-trained pet, capable of flattering both rookies and seasoned hands alike.
It is the kind of car that makes you wonder why, given Red Bull owns both teams, Verstappen hasn’t taken it for a spin — if only to see what life is like outside the narrow operating window of his own machinery.
The Racing Bulls’ smooth handling has allowed rookie sensation Isack Hadjar to make headlines for all the right reasons, while Liam Lawson, after his somewhat unceremonious exit from Red Bull, has rediscovered his spark and even beaten Verstappen in Hungary. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda, who started the year brightly in the Bulls, moved up to Red Bull and quickly found himself wrestling the same gremlins that have made Verstappen’s Sundays harder than they need to be.
A car built to keep drivers happy
Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane makes no secret of it — the VCARB 02 was deliberately designed to be kind to its drivers.
“We realised pretty early on what we’d created,” Permane explained. “It’s a car that allows you to extract performance without living on the knife-edge every lap. Sure, it’s good for rookies, but it’s also a car a top driver could get into and deliver immediately.”
Which, naturally, raises the question: if this is such a friendly and adaptable car, why hasn’t Red Bull taken advantage of the situation and put their star man in it, even for just a day?
The filming day loophole
Formula 1 regulations allow each team two filming days per season, capped at 200 kilometres each, with cars running on demonstration tyres.
In theory, this could be the perfect scenario for Verstappen to jump into the VCARB 02 without breaking any race weekend rules. It would provide Racing Bulls with a direct benchmark of their car’s potential, give Verstappen a new reference point, and even help Red Bull better understand the gap between the two designs.
So why hasn’t it happened?
When asked in Hungary if he’d been tempted to try the sister team’s car, Verstappen laughed, paused, and then coyly said, “Let’s not talk about it.”
That brief answer spoke volumes, particularly to those within the paddock who believe there’s more politics than practicality behind the decision.
Sources close to Red Bull suggest the main obstacle is not logistics or even technical value, it’s optics. Rival teams are already suspicious of the close relationship between the two Red Bull outfits, and the FIA is preparing to tighten Section F of the sporting regulations in 2026 to further define what “team independence” actually means.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has been vocal on the matter.
“Any fully independent team needs to be protected from the benefits that come from interdependence,” Stella said in Budapest. “Right now, we trust the rules are working, but we also believe further constructive discussions are needed.”
For Red Bull, that means avoiding anything that might look like a breach of competitive fairness, even if, technically, it would be within the rules. A Verstappen test in a Racing Bulls would undoubtedly be legal — but in the court of paddock opinion, it might not pass the smell test.
The ship may have sailed anyway
Even setting politics aside, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has admitted that the RB21 and VCARB 02 are so fundamentally different that any feedback Verstappen could provide wouldn’t directly translate. With most teams now focusing heavily on 2026’s regulation overhaul, development on the current cars is minimal.
The budget cap and wind tunnel restrictions also make it virtually impossible to integrate major changes at this stage of the season. Even if Verstappen found some magic in the Bulls, it would likely be too late to put it to good use this year.
Which leaves us where we started — two cars, two very different personalities, and one reigning world champion who may never get to find out if the grass really is greener on the other side of the Red Bull fence.
And so, jury, I turn the question over to you: should Red Bull bite the bullet and let Verstappen loose in the Racing Bulls, if only to satisfy our curiosity?
Or is this one of those tantalising what-ifs that is better left to paddock gossip? Let us know your verdict below, and if you want to keep the discussion rolling, we’re trying to grow a new online F1 community over on Facebook in the TJ13 Jury Room — join us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/708095665600791.
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.
