Key Red Bull player unravels Verstappen's Hungary woes

A P9 for Max Verstappen and a P17 for Yuki Tsunoda was all that Red Bull could muster at the 2025 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix. This does not come as a surprise for the Austrian team's simulator test and development driver.

Whilst the simulator is an essential tool in modern F1, its use may be widely misinterpreted. Rudy van Buren, Red Bull's simulator test and development driver clarifies: "That SIM is a tool to polish the last [bit of the set-up]," he said to Vrooooom: F1 summary.

'The simulator is not the F1 golden egg'

According to the Dutchman it is not meant "to solve problems that have been going on with the car all year," he added referring to the balance, grip and behavioural issues the RB21 has been plagued with for the entirety of the 2025 season.

"If that sim was the golden egg, it would have been done (solving the RB21's issues, ed.), a long time ago. There are fundamental things that come up on certain circuits, and this is a circuit where that becomes very painfully clear."

He was speaking about the Hungaroring of course, the track that saw Verstappen struggle like no other in the calendar, marking his worse qualifying position of the entirety of 2025.

Max Verstappen during the Hungarian Grand Prix - Red Bull Contentpool

'RB21 couldn't make the tyres work in Hungary'

"There is of course a speed range in that car in the corners, in which it is just difficult to drive through. The car is very good in high speed, you can see that." This was noticeable in Suzuka, Saudi Arabia and Imola for instance, tracks where Verstappen could shine despite the underlying issues of the Red Bull car.

"Only here is almost the entire circuit in the area where the balance is not there. Add to that the fact that you hear: 'I'm sliding on [all] four wheels'."

For van Buren that signals a misconnection between the cr and the Pirelli tyres. "That sounds a bit more like: 'the tyres don't do what they're supposed to do'. Then it will just be a very difficult weekend, right away."

Small working window for RB21 confirmed, but 'Verstappen can do his thing'

Van Buren also sees that the Hungaroring woes for Red Bull confirmed what many have been suggesting since the start of the current F1 campaign.

"Everyone says: that car has a very small sweet spot. Of course, you can also see that during qualifying."

"It goes from understeer to oversteer. Add to that the fact that the tarmac temperature drops ten degrees, the wind comes from a different direction, it suddenly becomes much harder."

"If you already have such a small window, it becomes so difficult to get it right."

However, the Dutchman does believe that there's hidden potential in the car, and when it's tapped into then Verstappen can make it work. "If they get it right, then it's there and Max can do his thing."

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