At a glance the announcement may appear odd when Red Bull decided that Max Verstappen will not get to test the sister Racing Bulls (previously AlphaTauri) Formula 1 car. A gentle and easy to control machine such as Racing Bulls machine is believed to be easier to drive than the RB21 so a person may believe such a machine will offer a valuable insight to Verstappen. But it is not much about the plus of being on the track but rather how not to be seen as a politically controversial figure and get into F1 paddock regulatory hassle.
The most important thing is perception. Should Verstappen, the flagship driver of the Red Bull team, drive Racing Bulls even in a secondary role of the filming day, it would likely raise the suspicion of other teams that Red Bull was committing the crime of unfair transferral of knowledge or performance statistics within the two teams. The coziness between the Red Bull Racing and the sister team that is instances has already alarmed McLaren, who cautions of possible competitive advantages. With the relationship between “A/ B teams” coming under increased scrutiny prior to 2026, Red Bull is avoiding anything that would attract an FIA investigation and create paddock politics.
Then there is the problem of time and expert relevance. Although the operating window of the Racing Bulls car is wider and it is simpler to get performance out of it, at this point the Red Bull RB21 and the VCARB 02 have become very different in their architectural approach. The input that Verstappen has been giving in the sister car may never have made any positive difference to the RB21 unless as the technical leadership of Red Bull has mentioned it may be the same in the Monaco GP. It is such an insignificant test since there is already significant upgrades on the books for this season and now everyone is looking at the 2026 rule package.
Racing Bulls team bosses have not been afraid of stating that they are interested in creating a car that is more predictable as well as manageable especially in a bid to support younger drivers. Although this may also enable someone like Verstappen, given his solid experience, to reach its peak relatively easily, it is too far outstripped by the possible political consequences. Even Verstappen himself has spoken about such a test being a politically sensitive thing to take part in, recognizing the optics would be poor.
In short, Red Bull assessment has three converging forces:
Competitive optics: It is quite likely that any official cross-team test, especially conducted with Verstappen, would provoke suspicion of improper sharing information. Red Bull likes to be kept within the realms of vigilance.
Regulatory pressure: The increasingly strong arm of FIA on the interaction of the so called A/B teams makes even legal filming days subject to undesirable attention.
Diminishing returns The level of design variation between the cars, and the locked-down nature of the focus on 2026, make feedback less likely to advance 2025 development.
For of course, it could well be absolutely technologically possible, and frankly desirable, given other unknowns, to put Verstappen into a more accommodating chassis in terms of feedback, but otherwise the cost to the FIA internationally is too extreme in terms of geopolitical costs to countenance. Pithily, Red Bull is holding back due to business judgment: it is better to be conservative and aboveboard rather than strive to realize the margins that may accrue to the company with high-stakes optics.
On balance, the more laissez-faire approach of leaving Verstappen to drive the RB F1 car as lightly as possible probably ties to an aspect of longer term thinking: through this season they are currently playing defence, on politics and regulation, rather than seeking short term performance as the season begins to run out.
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