Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri put on notice as Red Bull explain plan to 'beat McLaren'

and can expect stiff competition from as they target both World Championships in 2025. According to , 's squad expect to have the speed to 'beat the McLarens' in time for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Until this point, McLaren have had the upper hand, and have arguably had the fastest car at each of the five Grands Prix thus far.

They converted this advantage into four victories with Piastri taking the lead of the Drivers' Championship standings after notching his third win of the campaign in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Verstappen, meanwhile, is 12 points back from Piastri and only two behind Norris, and with Red Bull expecting significant pace increases over the next two races, the four-time world champion is far from out of the fight.

The F1 grid heads to Miami in two weeks' time for the first of three races in the United States this season, and Red Bull will be bringing upgrades. The Milton Keynes squad will then bring a more significant package to the following round in Imola, which they hope will make them more competitive relative to McLaren.

"We will have small steps, and I think by Imola we should be in a position that we also have the speed to beat the McLarens," Marko explained to after Verstappen's second-place finish in Jeddah.

Discussing the team's pace in Saudi Arabia, he added: "Compared to Bahrain, we made a big progress, but also this circuit suits us better - faster corners and so on. We are moving forward and getting a car which is more predictable and is also working in a wider range."

So far in 2025, Red Bull have been fighting with one hand tied behind their backs due to ongoing struggles in Verstappen's neighbouring garage, but if the car develops a wider working window, the early signs suggest that Yuki Tsunoda will be able to help his new team-mate battle the McLaren cars.

In fact, Tsunoda believes that with some more time to adapt, he can beat his team-mate. "It's my first time driving a completely different car - I only drove with VCARB for the last four years, so it's the first time I drove a completely different team's car," he explained after the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"I'm trying to use that, and I know that if I unlock that area, I would be able to probably beat him [Verstappen]. I know myself that I can't beat him straight away, so I'm just trying to build a good baseline and wait for the moment that I can be in the shape, yeah."