Another year, another season where Racing Bulls are stuck in eighth. Not awful, not inspiring, just there. The only reason anyone’s talking about them is because of their parent company. Red Bull raids their drivers, shuffles their management, and generally treats the Faenza squad like a glorified internship program.
The results? Predictable. A team that could be interesting if it wasn’t constantly tripping over the corporate umbilical cord.
Best Moments: Monaco and Austria, Against the Odds
Isack Hadjar is the only genuine spark in this story. P6 in Monaco, P8 for Lawson that same day — thanks to some clever teamwork that made them look smarter than usual. Lawson then repeated the sixth-place trick in Austria, reminding everyone that he can still drive when the chaos calms down.
But let’s be honest: the headline isn’t Racing Bulls’ results. It’s the looming question — when will Red Bull call up Hadjar and ruin his momentum? Because that’s how this feeder system works. Ask Yuki Tsunoda, who finally got his big chance in the senior team this year and has been… well, underwhelming.
Worst Moments: Silverstone Disaster
Silverstone was peak Racing Bulls chaos. Lawson was spun out on lap one, Hadjar ploughed into Antonelli in the rain, and their rivals all scored — including Nico Hülkenberg, who drove a Kick Sauber from P19 to a podium. That’s the kind of opportunity Racing Bulls never seem to cash in on.
Driver Watch
- Isack Hadjar – Outperforming expectations, both in pace and in results. He’s the bright spot of this team, which probably means he won’t be here long.
- Liam Lawson – Needs a reset. The Red Bull experiment dented his confidence, and now he’s playing catch-up against a rookie who’s stealing the headlines.
- Yuki Tsunoda – Not here anymore, but worth mentioning: he’s floundering in the senior team, proving that “promotion” in the Red Bull system can be more of a curse than a reward.
The Bigger Picture
Alan Permane is now running the show after Laurent Mekies got called up to replace Christian Horner. Another reminder that Racing Bulls are less a Formula 1 team and more a resource pool for Red Bull corporate. Drivers get yanked up and down, bosses get reassigned, and Racing Bulls are left trying to look like an actual team instead of the spare-parts department.
The irony? This car — the VCARB 02 — is decent. On certain weekends, it’s even stronger than Red Bull’s second seat. You can’t help but wonder what Verstappen would do in this machine. But instead of building their own identity, Racing Bulls are forever in their parent team’s shadow.
Racing Bulls 2025 aren’t exciting. They’re functional, they’re occasionally quick, but they don’t make you feel anything. Every storyline circles back to Red Bull — Hadjar’s future, Lawson’s recovery, Tsunoda’s struggles, Mekies’ promotion. The Faenza squad doesn’t exist on its own terms.
If they weren’t tied to Red Bull, maybe Racing Bulls could actually be something more. Right now, they’re just background noise in papaya, scarlet, and silver symphony.
