What are the new paddock positions and how do they affect top teams in F1 2025?

Lights out and away we go into the new Formula One season 2025, but for Red Bull, the road ahead looks more challenging than ever. The reigning champions of yesteryear find themselves in unfamiliar territory as they roll into Albert Park, no longer the team to beat. After a turbulent 2025 season that saw Max Verstappen go an astonishing 10 races without a win and Sergio Perez’s form plummet, the once-dominant Red Bull outfit could only scrape together a third-place finish in the constructors' championship —their worst since 2019.

That means a major reshuffle in the pecking order of the paddock, with McLaren now enjoying the prestige of the first garage slot after securing their first team title in over two decades. Ferrari slots in at P2, leaving Red Bull demoted to third, a position they haven’t experienced in years. While Christian Horner and his squad are no strangers to fighting from behind, this small but crucial logistical change is already making waves.

During pre-season testing in Bahrain, Verstappen —a man known for his razor-sharp instincts — was momentarily caught out, misjudging the location of his new garage while entering the pits. A rare error, but one that underlines the adjustment Red Bull must make as they enter a season where every millisecond counts.

It might seem like a minor inconvenience, but garage positions in the F1 paddock can have a domino effect on a team's efficiency, focus and even championship aspirations. For drivers, pit stops are drilled into muscle memory — where to brake, where to turn in and how to align with their mechanics is second nature after years of repetition. A sudden shift down the order can disrupt that rhythm, leading to those split-second hesitations that make the difference between victory and defeat.

For the pit crews, a further garage down means potential changes in timing, traffic and visibility as rival teams maneuver in and out of the lane. Strategically, being lower in the pit lane means having to react to race leaders rather than dictating the pace. With McLaren now calling the shots from the front, Red Bull’s ability to control the ebb and flow of races —something they've mastered in recent years — could be significantly hampered.

Verstappen, of course, is no stranger to adversity, but the question remains — can Red Bull shake off the psychological and operational setbacks of their new paddock reality? Or will McLaren and Ferrari capitalize on their prime real estate to keep Red Bull playing catch-up all season long? One thing’s for certain: the battle for supremacy in 2025 is just getting started.