ERADICATING RED BULL’S WEAKNESSES
It was clear from early in 2020 that Red Bull’s RB16 was tough for its drivers to handle. It took many months into the year – team boss Christian Horner didn’t concede something was “misbehaving aerodynamically” until round three – before the squad admitted there was more to it than drivers finding its limit.
On the first morning of 2021 pre-season testing, Max Verstappen half-spun the RB16B exiting the opening corners of the Bahrain track, and his initial runs did not look altogether comfortable. But that quickly changed, with Mercedes strategy director James Vowles commenting after testing that Red Bull’s car looked “planted”.
“There’s nothing missing now,” says Verstappen, who came into the new season 1kg lighter than in previous years.
The rest of testing ran smoothly for Red Bull, other than Sergio Perez having an engine cover blow off as he overtook the Williams of Nicholas Latifi on the second day of three. It was this lack of issues, allied with testing’s fastest time, that led Verstappen to say “definitely it has been the best [pre-season]” of his time at the team so far.
The Bahrain race weekend didn’t go quite as smoothly, even if Verstappen’s performances confirmed that Red Bull has F1’s best package. Verstappen damaged his floor early in qualifying; Perez was knocked out in the middle segment of that session and his car lost all electrical power on the initial formation lap. Verstappen also had to contend with a suspected differential problem early in the race, which he was able to drive around, but Horner reckoned “seemed to compromise his first sector compared to the Mercedes”.
But when it comes to how his team operates in comparison with Mercedes, Verstappen is certain it has what it takes to succeed. He subtly suggested that Red Bull might need to alter its future practice programmes to ensure it has a more flexible tyre strategy at upcoming events, but was no doubt aware that were it not for his late wheel-to-wheel error, then Red Bull’s strategy in the season opener would have been successful.
“Every team has their weak spots,” says Verstappen. “But, in general, we just have to make sure we have a faster car – then everything becomes a lot easier. Because if you start ahead, and you just have the better car, then it’s a lot easier to score your points – without any risk. So, that’s what we have to work on. Because I’m pretty sure that if we have that fast car, I think as a team and the way the team is operating, we are very strong.
I don’t see any weakness in that area [for Red Bull].”
“AS A TEAM AND THE WAY THE TEAM IS OPERATING, WE ARE VERY STRONG”