2023 Japanese Grand Prix (Verstappen's Record Title)

The RB21: Verstappen's eight-win title fight in a turbulent season.

The Red Bull Racing RB21 is a Formula One car which was designed and constructed by Red Bull Racing and competed exclusively in the 2025 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by defending World Champion Max Verstappen, who was joined by Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, the latter replacing Lawson from the Japanese Grand Prix. The RB21, which was powered by the Honda RBPTH003 power unit, is the last Red Bull Racing car to be powered by Honda RBPT-badged engines, with Honda returning in a fully fledged capacity for the forthcoming new power unit rules and switching to powering the rival Aston Martin team from 2026.

From the season, Red Bull and its sister team Racing Bulls have utilised Red Bull Powertrains Ford engines. The RB21 was the first Red Bull Racing car since the RB2 to not be designed by former Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey, and the first car to be designed by Technical Director Pierre Waché who is now overseeing all aspects of any future Red Bull challengers from design to production with the RB21 being the first car for which he oversaw both the design and production process. Two mid-season upgrades for the car have been introduced overall: first a package at Imola, and the second at Monza.

Quick Facts

Driver: max verstappen: World Champion (3rd Title)
Team: red bull racing: Constructor Champions
Record broken: Earliest title win in F1 history

Lore & Background

The RB21 followed the WDC-winning RB20. Red Bull had a turbulent season: the car was initially off the pace of the pace-setting McLaren MCL39, with both drivers reporting issues during pre-season tests. While Verstappen remained competitive by opening the season with a podium in Australia, and taking victories in Japan and Imola, the second seat fared much worse: Lawson initially held the seat until China, after which he was demoted back to Racing Bulls and replaced by Tsunoda.

Persistent issues with the car, coupled with the underperformance of Tsunoda, resulted in Red Bull getting knocked out of contention after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Verstappen brought himself back into contention for the Drivers' Championship after winning the United States, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, taking three consecutive victories. However, he was unable to secure the title with title rival Lando Norris securing it at the latter event by two points.