How will Red Bull revolution impact second half of their season?

Some worked well, others were woefully misjudged. Drivers slid off the track, others drew fouls behind safety cars, and ultimately, Silverstone hailed another home race winner. It was not a Red Bull, not Max Verstappen; he was P5, nearly a minute behind the winner, McLaren's Lando Norris. It was also Christian Horner's last race in charge of the team after a 20-year spell as the boss there.

The trying race at Silverstone, quite rightly, led into the halfway break. With 12 races down and 12 to go, teams can refine strategies, adjust to builds, or make key changes. The World Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships may already be in McLaren’s hands, but teams will continue to battle it out to finish as the best of the rest.

Red Bull Racing were firmly in fourth in the World Constructors’ Championship as of the conclusion of the 6 July race day. The efforts of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson haven’t helped, but Max Verstappen has proven that the car can compete at the front in the right conditions. Still, his five podium finishes haven’t been enough to inspire confidence.

Amidst rumours of Verstappen’s impending departure, Red Bull Racing chose 9 July to change their team principal. Christian Horner, as we relayed via Bild, entered into negotiations to terminate his contract with RBR, making way for only the second team principal in the team’s 20-year history. The feeling is that the season is lost, and they may lose their greatest remaining asset in Max Verstappen next year.

So, with the break underway from 7 July, the team needs to bring in a new approach, a new lead, a new atmosphere, and try to convince the soon-to-be-former champion to stay for the next project. Only fuelling Horner’s departure was the brain drain Red Bull has experienced in recent years. This was epitomised by Silverstone seeing Rob Marshall and Jonathan Wheatley’s teams (McLaren and Sauber) getting on the podium.

To get the new Red Bull Racing into gear with a half-season head start before making a proper challenge for the titles again, the team has appointed Laurent Mekies. In motorsport for the better part of three decades, after a stint with the FIA and Ferrari, he joined Racing Bulls as team principal in early 2024 to perfectly position the incredibly experienced former engineer to step into Horner’s role should a change be required.

The prospect of Mekies changing things up at Red Bull Racing and pushing the team in a brighter direction very much puts them back in the fight for being the best of the rest behind McLaren.

On 7 July, after Silverstone, 50 points split Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, with Mercedes’ 210 haul trailing Ferrari by just 12 points. Verstappen will need help from the secondary driver, but RBR aren’t being counted out just yet.

This is reflected in outright forecasts made by oddsmakers. As of 9 July, we can see the contenders for the 2025 F1 Constructors’ Championship without McLaren market at Betway read as Ferrari at 1/2, Mercedes at 5/2, and Red Bull at 11/2. There’s a lot of ground to make up for Red Bull, and perhaps more troublingly, Ferrari has two proven drivers behind the wheel.

So far, only Charles Leclerc has made it to the podium for Ferrari, doing so on four occasions. Lewis Hamilton, who may have expected more early success, told the BBC that it looks worse on the outside than on the inside. He’s confident in Ferrari’s progress but admits adapting to their race-day processes has been tough.

Mercedes are enjoying the run-outs of George Russell, who has long been seen as Hamilton’s heir-apparent at the German team. Now, Mercedes’ F1 boss Toto Wolff is seeing his faith be repaid. The Brit has collected five podiums, including a win in Canada.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has put in some strong races, including a third-place finish in Canada, but four retirements in the last six races are holding the team back in the Constructors’ Championship standings.

With Ferrari improving, Antonelli potentially shrugging off a poor spell, and Red Bull perhaps coming out of the break with a renewed sense of purpose, the race for McLaren’s runner-up could be very close.