Max Verstappen says the team is trying to regain its form for the remainder of the season.
When Verstappen crossed the finish line in the opening race in Bahrain with a 22-second margin, the general sentiment was that the reigning World Champion would dominate 2024.
However, six months later, while other teams, especially McLaren, made progress, Red Bull followed a wrong path in the development of the RB20. In an interview with Autosport in Singapore, Verstappen discussed the challenges Red Bull faced after starting the year so strongly. The Dutch driver stated, “At first, I was surprised too, but if you look at what our problems were, I completely understand it.”
“At one point, we went in the wrong direction. Other teams either haven’t encountered that point yet or developed the car in a slightly different way. It’s always difficult to assess that. I noticed early on that the balance was very different from last year’s car.”
“At that time, our car was still much faster than the others, so we could compensate for the issues we faced at that stage. However, things got worse in the subsequent races. At one point, driving our car became very difficult, and others made real progress.” Verstappen repeatedly mentioned that he felt the front and rear of the car were no longer connected and visibly different from last year’s model.
Verstappen’s comments about grip imply that Red Bull’s issue is at least partially related to the floor of the car. He remarked, “The floor issue is more complicated than everyone thinks.”
“Even McLaren is holding back a new floor that they are not completely sure about. They are much more sensitive to upgrades compared to previous regulations.” Teams are also struggling to correlate the behavior of the car in the real world with the floor upgrades they perform in the wind tunnel. This situation seems particularly relevant for Red Bull, which has a relatively old wind tunnel.
However, Verstappen believes the situation isn’t just related to the wind tunnel: “It’s true that we have quite an old wind tunnel, but it had been working fine until this year.”
“All teams, including those with modern wind tunnels, have their own issues. I think it’s extremely difficult to perfectly fine-tune certain things or obtain exactly the right data.”
“This could depend on many factors related to the wind tunnel itself or its relationship with the track.” The team mentioned only ‘minor adjustments’ made to the lower floor in Baku, but Verstappen is hopeful this specific update marks the beginning of a solution: “The car felt better.”
“This was a good step for us, and I believe we are currently moving in the right direction, but it will take some time. You can’t turn things around in just one or two weeks. However, I think the team is also pleased with what they saw in Baku.”
Verstappen is optimistic that this season, which hit rock bottom with the disastrous race in Monza, is now behind him.
“Yes, to be honest, I think so. I hope we can continue to take good steps from here.”
