Racing Bulls mid-season review: Seeking consistency amid constant reshuffling
- Charlotte Mui
- 45 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Written by Charlotte Mui, Edited by Meghana Sree
As we head into the second half of the 2025 Formula One season after a lengthy summer break, our F1 writers take you through the state of play with each team on the grid.
In playing their role as Red Bull’s junior team, Racing Bulls are no stranger to instability and 2025 has been no different. Coming into this season, the team confirmed Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar as their driver lineup, though the two arrived under very different circumstances.
For Hadjar, his call-up was one of excitement. After a solid but relatively understated junior career, not many would have predicted the Frenchman to be on the grid in 2025. However, his 2024 Formula 2 campaign changed the trajectory of his career.
Taking a total of four feature race wins, he was in strong contention for the championship the entire season, ultimately finishing as a close runner-up to Gabriel Bortoleto. In doing so, Hadjar showcased his talent and potential, convincing Red Bull to give him a chance in Formula One.
For Tsunoda, by contrast, staying with the team for a fifth season would have been a source of frustration. Many argued that his performances over the past two years should have earned him a seat at Red Bull, but this was not the case.
In 2024, Red Bull chose Liam Lawson to take over Sergio Pérez’s seat, citing his higher long-term potential—a decision that seemed unfair, given that the Japanese driver had outperformed Lawson over the course of that season.
It only took two race weekends, however, for the driver situation to change, as Red Bull decided to swap out Lawson for Tsunoda at the Japanese Grand Prix.
After an extremely poor start for the New Zealand driver, Red Bull reversed their 2024 decision, believing that Tsunoda’s experience may help him in taming the notoriously tricky Red Bull car. That move left Racing Bulls with an all-rookie lineup: Hadjar and Lawson both still in their first full F1 season.
However, the changes for Racing Bulls in 2025 were not limited to the driver lineup.
On 9th July, shockwaves rippled throughout the paddock as Red Bull announced that Christian Horner, their long-time Team Principal who had overseen six Constructors’ and eight Drivers’ Championships, was leaving the team effective immediately.
His replacement at Red Bull Racing was none other than Laurent Mekies, Racing Bulls’ own Team Principal, forcing the Faenza squad to undergo a leadership reshuffle of their own. Alan Permane subsequently took up the mantle at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Racing Bulls head into the summer break in a state of transition, with two young drivers still finding their footing, and a new Team Principal still bedding in.
Their challenge for the remainder of the year will be finding enough consistency on track to fight against teams with much less movement behind the scenes.
High point
There was an air of uncertainty around Racing Bulls after the driver swap in Japan. Tsunoda’s departure meant they were losing their most senior and lead driver, leaving them with two relatively inexperienced pairs of hands. On Sunday, however, Hadjar’s performance was quick to silence their anxieties.
After delivering a brilliant Saturday performance, qualifying P7 on the grid, the question was whether he would be able to manage the race to stay in the points, especially with more-experienced midfield drivers looming behind.
He responded by finishing in eighth and securing his first points in F1, while simultaneously giving Racing Bulls their first points of the season.
Their best collective performance came at the principality, where both Hadjar and Lawson made it to Q3, qualifying in sixth and eighth respectively. With the Monaco track being nearly impossible to overtake on, the two drivers easily converted these starting positions into race finishes, taking home their largest points tally of the season.
A sixth place finish for Lawson in Austria was also important for the young driver in regaining his momentum. He appeared discouraged after his brief stint at the senior team, constantly qualifying and finishing behind Hadjar. However, this result gave the New Zealander a much-needed boost of confidence and reasserted his value to the team.
Low point
The season opener in Australia marked one of Racing Bulls’ most disastrous races. With the weather radar predicting rain, teams were geared for a more chaotic race, but for Racing Bulls, the chaos took place before the race even started.
Hadjar, on what was supposed to be his Grand Prix debut, crashed on the formation lap, ending his race before the lights even went out. His emotional reaction was closely documented and sparked some harsh backlash from Helmut Marko, who deemed the incident "embarrassing".
On the other side of the garage, Tsunoda’s race left much on the table. His capability and experience in the car showed throughout the race as the unpredictable weather took out both rookie and veteran drivers.
However, poor strategy calls from the pitwall meant he was ultimately unable to capitalise on the chaos, and finished outside the points in 12th.
More recently, their showing at the British Grand Prix may have been worse still. Just like in Australia, changeable conditions looked to be on the horizon, and the inexperience of their drivers was apparent.
On the opening lap, Lawson suffered a collision with Esteban Ocon, taking him out of the race. Hadjar, though making it a bit further, crashed into the back of Kimi Antonelli on Lap 18, causing a double DNF for the team. To make matters worse, Nico Hülkenberg’s shock podium elevated Sauber above them in the championship.
Looking ahead
The Faenza squad will look to their development team for this second half of the season. Although coming in with one of the best midfield packages, the team currently look behind in the development race, especially with Sauber and Aston Martin's recent upgrade packages.
They currently sit eighth in the standings, only seven points behind sixth placed Aston Martin, but will need more consistent results in order to keep the fight going.
With Lawson regaining his form after his disappointing stint at Red Bull and Hadjar looking to continue his standout rookie season, both appear ready to challenge for the “best of the rest” positions.
But will their package allow them to consistently be in the fight for points, or will they continue slipping backwards in the pack?
