Max Verstappen foresees the Canadian Grand Prix as delicate for Red Bull

The layout of the Monte-Carlo circuit revealed certain weaknesses of the Red Bull, such as the difficulty of this year’s RB20 chassis in crossing the curbs, while Max Verstappen qualified and finished in sixth place, whereas Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q1, before his crash in the first lap with Kevin Magnussen.

Red Bull could also suffer from these characteristics on the Montreal circuit, which also includes a series of turns adjacent to chicanes requiring drivers to attack the curbs. Although the circuit has been resurfaced, Verstappen believes that any track irregularity will cause the team to lose relative performance.

« We have to wait and see [how we will perform in Canada], new surface as well I think, this could also reserve us some surprises », said Verstappen. « It will probably not be our strongest weekend because of that, but a little better than in [Monaco]. »

Translate: « [We’ll be weaker on] any track that is bumpy or has curbs, or where you have to cross a lot of curbs, so urban circuits will probably be a bit tricky. But I hope that by then, we will have a better understanding of what is going on. »

Red Bull wants to forget Monaco

Despite Verstappen’s claims, the team boss, Christian Horner, said that historically, Red Bull had performed well in Montreal and hoped that the team’s understanding after Monaco could help maintain this form. He does agree with Verstappen, however, that the resurfacing could bring some surprises to the team.

It is a circuit where we have performed well before, they have resurfaced the entire circuit again, so let’s see. But Ferrari, McLaren, they are fast. It was always clear there would be a convergence. [Monaco] was a tough weekend, but we are still leading both championships.

We will learn from this weekend and apply it to the next one. [Canada is] very focused on traction, historically this has been the case, but with a new surface, we don’t know how the balance will change, explains Horner.

Helmut Marko explained that the problem behind Red Bull’s difficulties on bumpy tracks was due to a correlation issue with the simulator, where the virtual configurations offering good capabilities for crossing over curbs did not translate into the real world. The Austrian estimated that the team would be able to regain its previous dominance when the calendar returns to Barcelona in June.

« The basic problem is not the circuits, but the fact that the correlation between the simulator and the track is not working,” he said. « In the simulator, we cross the boundaries without any problem.”

« Here, to use Verstappen’s expression, the car bounces like a kangaroo. This is the problem, which was also evident in the Miami setup and partly in Imola. This is where we need to start, but we believe that when we get to real circuits like Barcelona, for example, we will regain our old form. »