For Verstappen, Red Bull is heading in the right direction

After a brilliant start to the season (7 wins in the first 10 GPs, editor’s note), Red Bull encountered development difficulties, while its competitors, notably McLaren, were making rapid progress. Sixth in Italy nearly 40 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen hopes that Monza will remain the low point of the season for Red Bull, as the team strives to improve its cars for the end of the year.

Confiding in Autosport after the Singapore race, the Dutchman admitted that he had noticed a balance issue on the RB20 since the beginning of the year. “Very early on, I realized that the sensations were very different from last year’s car in terms of balance,” he explains. “At that time, our car was still much faster than the others, or maybe I should say that the others were not as good at that time, so at this stage, we could still compensate for our difficulties.”

Increased competition

Ultra dominant these last two seasons, Red Bull has seen its competitors make clear progress this season. McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes have found solutions to be more efficient on the track. At the same time, the Austrian team was facing difficulties. The situation has continued to worsen [over the course of the year]. At one point, our car was simply very difficult to drive, and at the same time, the others were making real progress,” notes the 27-year-old driver.

Although their car remained competitive, the situation deteriorated as the races went on, making the car difficult to drive while other teams were progressing. “At one point, we took the wrong direction,” he explains, pointing out that Red Bull did not manage to respond to the development challenges like other teams.

The challenge of the new floors

The difficulties encountered by Verstappen, particularly in terms of the car’s handling, imply that Red Bull’s issue was at least partially related to the floor. The unexpected consequences of a new floor have been a headache that many teams have faced under this regulation. Mercedes struggled for two years with ground-effect cars, while Ferrari saw high-speed bouncing return with an update to the floor in Barcelona. “It seems more complicated than what everyone thinks,” acknowledges Verstappen.

The introduction of new floors is not always beneficial for stables. While Ferrari had backtracked before the Hungarian GP, returning to its old flat floor, Mercedes copied the Italian team on the eve of Baku. Seeing the difficulties encountered by its competitors, McLaren is postponing the introduction of its new part. For now, even McLaren is holding back a new floor, which they are not entirely sure of. It’s much more sensitive with updates than with previous regulations, Verstappen says.

An obsolete wind tunnel?

Teams are also struggling to establish a correlation between improvements made to the floor in the wind tunnel and the car’s behavior on track. This seems particularly relevant in the case of Red Bull, given that its wind tunnel is relatively old, and the team is working on plans for a new facility. “It’s a very difficult subject to address, but it’s more complicated to get things right than with the old cars,” acknowledges Verstappen.

The three-time reigning world champion downplays the impact of the team’s wind tunnel. “It is true that we have a rather old wind tunnel, but until this year, it was doing everything right,” he says. “Some things are difficult to understand […] All teams had their own problems, including those with modern wind tunnels. I think it is extremely difficult to get things perfectly right or to obtain exactly the right data. This can be due to many factors in the wind tunnel itself or in how it correlates with the track.”

Improvements in Baku

Finished fifth in Azerbaijan, Verstappen suffered from poor setup choices for that race. But Red Bull noted progress with an update to the floor for this weekend. Sergio Perez’s strong race, fighting for the podium before his collision at the end of the race with Sainz, was a positive sign. A week later, the Dutchman’s second place in Singapore confirmed the trend toward improvement within the Austrian team.

Read also: Verstappen solid second in Singapore

The team only mentioned subtle changes at the floor level in Baku, but Verstappen hopes that this specific improvement is the beginning of a solution: “Yes, we felt better. It was already a good step for us. I really think we are going in the right direction now, it will take time. It will take time. We cannot change something like that in one or two weeks. But I think the team was satisfied with what they saw in Baku.”

Progress to be confirmed

McLaren keeps a margin on Red Bull before entering the last six Grand Prix of the season. The Milton Keynes team hopes to continue improving to be competitive as soon as the US GP next week. Christian Horner, team principal, is aware of the progress made recently. Progress that must continue for the end of the season. “If you consider where we were a few weeks ago, the progress is visible, and we have practically a month to focus and progress before going to Austin […] There will be many sleepless nights in Milton Keynes,” said the Briton.

The American tour will be decisive before launching the final sprint at the end of November for the last three deadlines of the season. Still leading the drivers’ championship, Verstappen will have to fight until the end to keep his crown against Lando Norris. The Dutchman believes that the worst is behind Red Bull, while hoping that the improvements will continue: « Yes, I think that’s the case to be honest. I hope we can continue to make good progress from here. »