The 2024 season turned out to be a tough year for Red Bull, a big change from their dominant run in 2023 when they won 21 out of 22 races.

The RB20, struggled with balance problems throughout the season, which caused issues for both the team and their star driver, Max Verstappen, who often expressed his frustration over the radio, showing how much the car's performance affected him.

These problems allowed other teams to take the spotlight. McLaren had an impressive year, winning the Constructors’ Championship, while Ferrari claimed second place as well as an emotional victory at their home track.

Verstappen still managed to defend his Drivers’ title, but only after a tight battle with Lando Norris that went down to the wire at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Speaking about next season, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya noted that Red Bull needs to fix their car quickly if they want to be competitive in 2025. Otherwise, Verstappen could struggle and not be able to fight for his fifth consecutive title, with McLaren and Ferrari looking stronger than ever.

"For Verstappen it will be very difficult next season," he told Marca, translated by RacingNews365. 

"If Red Bull can't suddenly make a big step, it will be really difficult for him to become champion with the car he has at the moment. They just don't have the speed they need."

"So I don't see him as a favourite. If you look at the last Formula 1 races of the last year, it is impossible to see him as a favourite anymore. 

"We have to wait and see what Red Bull comes up with first, but I would say the title fight next year will be between McLaren and Ferrari. I think Mercedes is even more likely than Red Bull."

Even Verstappen himself is not expecting 2025 to be Red Bull’s year but still believes the team can improve the car over the winter break to the point to challenge the top.

"I am not expecting us to go into next season as the favourite, but that's a good challenge, I like it," he told RacingNews365.

"We went into the 2024 season as favourites and maybe it is good for us as a team, like a little wake-up call like: 'Come on guys, we have to be on it', and it is a nice challenge to try and be back on top, because I think we're still not quick, but we are getting there and sometimes are able to win again.

"That is at least possible at the moment, and it is a good challenge over the winter to push on, learn from the mistakes, learn from what we learned in the season and how to optimise the car and find more performance.

"The car is getting better, it is still not fixed but we are getting on top of those things, and I'm sure that if we fully nail our issues, we can actually unlock a lot more performance out of the car.

"I don't really think about [becoming a five-time champion] too much, I just want to enjoy it, see where we are in the beginning of the year and trust the team.

"They are going flat out at it, I gave my feedback and they know what I want from a car, and hopefully we can make it work."