Why the US Grand Prix is already so important to Red Bull’s rescue mission

The news has been grim for Red Bull Racing’s Formula 1 title challenge — and it doesn’t look like things will be changing any time soon.

Speaking to media after the Italian Grand Prix, Dr. Helmut Marko pinpointed the United States Grand Prix as being the best hope Red Bull has to turn the tides, while Max Verstappen referred to the RB20 as a “monster.”

Helmut Marko pinpoints USGP as turnaround for Red Bull

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Sam Cooper

Red Bull Racing’s RB20 hasn’t lived up to the expectations of the once-dominant team, and after the Italian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen didn’t shy away from offering a critical take on what’s gone wrong with the team.

When asked if the break between the Singapore Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix will provide the team with a shot at repairing Red Bull’s championship hopes by improving the car, Verstappen was skeptical.

“It doesn’t matter how many weeks,” Verstappen told assembled media, including PlanetF1.com.

“We have to just keep pushing and work flat out. There’s no excuse.”

Further, he was asked if he felt the team’s loss of Adrian Newey as a designer at all factored into the RB20’s seemingly constant struggles.

“I’ve always said I would have liked for Adrian to stay,” Verstappen said. “Always.

“But it’s not about that now because last year we had a great car which was the most dominant car ever, and we basically turned it into a monster.

“So we have to turn it around.”

More conclusions from the Italian Grand Prix:

👉 Max Verstappen makes Red Bull feelings clear as on-board Italian GP footage broadcast

👉 Uncovered: The secret behind Ferrari’s success at the Italian Grand Prix

At least one person on the Red Bull Racing team has some confidence in the evolution of the team and its car. Speaking to De Telegraaf , Dr. Helmut Marko acknowledged that, after the Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen finally seemed able to pinpoint some specific issues with the RB20 — which is the first step toward solving those issues.

“Max recognized on Saturday where the weakness of the car is,” Dr. Marko told De Telegraaf .

“Together with the engineers, a decision was made on how to improve the car and make it competitive again.

“We just have to figure out which part made the car worse. If we knew that, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

But in Formula 1, changes don’t happen overnight. Marko believes the Red Bull team will introduce updates or changes for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix — but that it wouldn’t be realistic to expect the car to be competitive until the United States Grand Prix.

That means the events in both Baku and Singapore are expected to be grim — and that Red Bull will only have six of the remaining eight races left to secure both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships.

Max Verstappen still leads the Formula 1 championship with 303 points compared to Lando Norris’ 241, but a 62-point gap is easily surmountable over the course of eight races.

Even worse, Red Bull Racing’s lead in the Constructors’ championship has been whittled down to a mere eight points, largely as a result of Serigo Perez’s immensely challenging 2024 season. While it may take Norris a few races to overtake Verstappen in the WDC standings, McLaren could easily usurp Red Bull in the WCC at Baku.

But that all still depends on Red Bull’s ability to transform its RB20 “monster” into a more easily controlled beast — and if 2024 has taught us anything, it’s that that prospect is more challenging than ever before.

Read next: Italian GP data: How McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ gifted win to Leclerc and Ferrari