Concerns mount at Red Bull after Verstappen's 'catastrophe' as F1 heads to Saudi Arabia

Max Verstappen and Red Bull are one of Formula 1's all-time most successful partnerships. But a disastrous race has raised concerns Verstappen could consider a move elsewhere.

Following the Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen talked of a “catastrophe” as he listed the problems. The defending world champion had to cope with tires overheating, brake problems and two different pit stop delays. At one stage, he was briefly last before finishing sixth.

Red Bull's influential motorsport adviser Helmut Marko has previously indicated there's a performance-related clause in Verstappen's contract, which is officially dated to 2028. The specifics aren't public but Marko indicated to the BBC last month a clause could come into play “if we don’t deliver for Max.”

Red Bull seemed to have the fourth-fastest car in Bahrain, behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.

Asked by Sky Sport Germany after the Bahrain race Sunday if he had concerns that Verstappen might consider his future, Marko said: “The (concern) is great ... improvements need to come in the near future so that he once again has a car that he can win with.”

Verstappen signaled his unhappiness with a key team decision last month. He “liked” an Instagram post by ex-F1 driver Giedo van der Garde which suggested it was a “panic move” to replace Liam Lawson as his teammate after two races of the season.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff expressed interest in a potential move last year. Both of his drivers are only confirmed to be under contract for this year. Verstappen has hinted at leaving F1 someday, saying last year he’d “passed halfway for sure” in his career and dislikes the busy schedule.

Marko suggested Sunday that Verstappen’s most recent wins in the rain in Brazil and after a stunning qualifying lap in Japan had come despite the car, not because of it. He added that Red Bull needed to create “a base level” of performance “so that he can fight for the world championship.”

After two record-breaking years of dominance for Verstappen and Red Bull in 2022 and 2023, Red Bull fell behind McLaren on pace partway through the season in 2024. Verstappen won only two of the last 14 races but still retained the title. McLaren won the constructors' championship.

The regulations are largely unchanged since 2022 and there are competing theories for Red Bull's decline.

Verstappen said last year that Red Bull had turned a winning car “into a monster” in its attempts to squeeze more pace out of the design. His then-teammate Sergio Perez made similar claims when his results fell off dramatically.

There are also questions over the effect of car design guru Adrian Newey leaving or whether Red Bull has simply reached the limits of the car's basic concept.

Marko said the team mismanaged Friday practice sessions, meaning unpleasant surprises like Verstappen lacking grip on hard tires in Bahrain. Those “Black Fridays” need to end, Marko said.

Probably not this week.

The Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah on Sunday could bring more issues with heat, though Verstappen expects less tire wear than in Bahrain. Upgrades are expected for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola circuit in Italy on May 18.

“We had some issues that set us back," Verstappen said in a team statement Tuesday, "and we still have a lot of work to do on the car to get us where we need to be."

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands arrives to the track for the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Mechanics push Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands on the starting grid before the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s massive holdings of U.S. Treasurys can be “a card on the table” in negotiations over tariffs with the Trump administration, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday.

“It does exist as a card, but I think whether we choose to use it or not would be a separate decision,” Kato said during a news show on national broadcaster TV Tokyo.

Kato did not elaborate and he did not say Japan would step up sales of its holdings of U.S. government bonds as part of its talks over President Donald Trump's tariffs on exports from Japan.

Earlier, Japanese officials including Kato had ruled out such an option.

Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, at $1.13 trillion as of late February. China, also at odds with the Trump administration over trade and tariffs, is the second largest foreign investor in Treasurys.

Kato stressed that various factors would be on the negotiating table with Trump, implying that a promise not to sell Treasurys could help coax Washington into an agreement favorable for Japan.

Trump has disrupted decades of American trade policies, including with key security allies like Japan, by i mposing big import taxes, or tariffs, on a wide range of products.

A team of Japanese officials was in Washington this week for talks on the tariffs.

The U.S. is due to soon begin imposing a 25% tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts, as well as an overall 10% baseline tariff. The bigger tariffs will hurt at a time when Japanese economic growth is weakening.

Asian holdings of Treasurys have remained relatively steady in recent years, according to the most recent figures.

But some analysts worry China or other governments could liquidate their U.S. Treasury holdings as trade tensions escalate.

U.S. government bonds are traditionally viewed as a safe financial asset, and recent spikes in yields of those bonds have raised worries that they might be losing that status due to Trump’s tariff policies.

FILE - Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato arrives at the prime minister's office Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, file)