The 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix will not be forgotten anytime soon for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, but for all the wrong reasons. During the fourth race of the season, in which McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took a convincing victory with a time of 1:35:39.435, Verstappen was faced with a rare and costly error from his otherwise reliable pit crew. A dramatic pit stop, lasting more than six seconds, left the four-time world champion shaking his head in frustration as he left the pits. The blunder cost him valuable time and positions, resulting in a disappointing sixth place, 34.395 seconds behind the winner.
The race did not start ideally for Red Bull, with Verstappen starting from fifth position after a difficult qualifying. His teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who is still finding his feet in the RB21, started even further back in ninth place. During the first stint, Verstappen managed to work his way up to fourth, but the problems started during his first pit stop on lap 21. While McLaren executed a flawless stop for Piastri, Red Bull went completely wrong. An issue with the right rear tyre, which was not positioned properly on the axle, caused a chaotic pit stop of 6.8 seconds – an eternity in Formula 1, where Red Bull normally executes pit stops of around 2 seconds. It was a painful reminder of previous incidents, such as the 6.2-second stop at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, where Verstappen also showed his frustration by hitting his steering wheel.
The consequences of this mistake were immediate. Verstappen, who was still running near the top three before the pit stop, dropped back to seventh position, behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Despite a strong pace in the closing stages of the race, he was only able to make up one position, which earned him sixth place with 8 points. The result was a bitter pill for the Dutchman, who made no secret of his displeasure afterwards. “These kinds of mistakes shouldn’t happen. We all know how important a good pit stop is, and today we shot ourselves in the foot,” Verstappen told the press, removing his helmet and shaking his head.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner took responsibility, acknowledging that the team had not lived up to their usual high standards. “We failed today in an area where we normally excel. This was a human error, and we will learn from it,” Horner said. He pointed out that Red Bull, which has dominated the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award for years with record times such as 1.82 seconds in Brazil in 2019, has struggled with inconsistency in the pits several times this season. The incident in Bahrain comes on top of previous problems, such as the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this season, where a slow pit stop nearly cost Verstappen his victory as he battled with Lando Norris at the pit exit.
For Red Bull, this is a wake-up call in a season in which McLaren has been calling the shots. With Piastri and Norris scoring 40 points in Bahrain, McLaren have increased their lead in the Constructors’ Championship, while Red Bull have collected just 10 points. Tsunoda’s ninth place, 45.061 seconds behind the winner, underlined the problems within the team. The RB21 does not appear to be the dominant car that Red Bull have had in previous years, and the inconsistency in both performance and pit stops is starting to threaten their title chances.
While Verstappen remains one of the favourites for the championship, this kind of setback is a rare blot on his otherwise impressive record. The Dutchman will undoubtedly be determined to bounce back in the next races, but for Red Bull it is crucial to review their processes and get their pit stops back to their usual high level. In a sport where every second counts, a six-second mistake can mean the difference between winning and losing. The Formula 1 caravan now moves on to Jeddah, where Verstappen and Red Bull will be hoping for a faultless weekend to get their season back on track.
