Red Bull grapples with RB20’s tire issues, undermining its strategy at Monza where Verstappen and Pérez underperformed.
Red Bull did not achieve the expected results at Monza, with Max Verstappen finishing sixth and Sergio Pérez eighth. Christian Horner, the team principal, congratulated Ferrari and Charles Leclerc and explained why his team had no chance to attempt a one-stop strategy.
“First of all, it’s a great result for Charles at home, so congratulations to him and Ferrari,” Horner stated. “We could not take advantage of the possibility of making just one stop due to the degradation of our tires, so we made the best of what our car could do.”
“We leave Italy with a lot of work to do, we are aware of that. Our strategy worked to an extent, but then we started suffering from graining, so the issues we had on Saturday reoccurred during the race.”
“I think Max did a good job and did everything he could to get the most out of it and finish sixth. Checo also had a good race and I think our final result was the maximum we could achieve.”
“Obviously, our performance is a concern at the moment and the entire team is working very hard on it. It looks like a balance issue and it needs to be addressed, so the team is incredibly focused at the factory on fixing it. At least, this weekend has really shown where some of our weaknesses are.”
A “disconnect” between front and rear
These remarks confirm those of Sergio Pérez, who explained he finally understood the problems. Horner elaborated on the handling issues of the RB20: “You can see that we have a disconnect between the front and rear balance that simply doesn’t work.”
“As soon as you find yourself in this situation, you are harder on the tires. You end up compensating. You shift the balance, you solve one problem and you create another. You find yourself in a vicious circle.”
“If you dig a bit deeper, I think some of these issues surfaced early in the year, even when we were winning races by 20 seconds. I think recent developments have disconnected the front and the rear. We can see it—our wind tunnel doesn’t say it, but the track does.”
Thus, it will be Red Bull’s priority: “So, we need to address this issue because, obviously, when you have that, it means you cannot trust your tools. You need to revert to track data and past experience.”
“We have reached the ceiling in some areas and, perhaps, having a bit less downforce but a better overall balance would generate a better lap time, better degradation, better tire management, and all these other aspects.”
“We need to question everything. Has something else changed? You can’t leave anything unchecked. But I think where we were before—at Miami, in China, or Japan, we won with a better balance.”
“When the car is in the window and it works, it performs as expected or closer to predictions. But this window is so small, that’s what we have to work with—we need to expand the operational window.”
According to Horner, the end of dominance is not due to Newey’s departure as Zak Brown at McLaren claims.
“I think all these problems could have occurred even with him, as the issues were already there, and the intervention of one man could never have resolved everything so quickly. It really started to be noticeable in Miami. Adrian was there until Friday in Miami. So, there’s no chance it had such a quick impact.”
“Today, he would be working with the same people. Formula 1 is a team sport. It’s a team, it’s a team problem. And the team will find the solution.”
Red Bull is “under pressure” against McLaren F1
Horner is concerned about his team losing ground, at the same time as McLaren is gaining performance, weekend after weekend: “It seems then that it is an aerodynamic problem, and an aerodynamic solution must be found. The guys are looking for the solution and it needs to be found quickly.”
“You look at the dynamics of the last six or seven races, and it has shifted very strongly in favor of McLaren. With the pace we have, both championships are certainly under pressure. We were only the fourth fastest car at Monza.”
“And if we want to defend the title, we need to stop this and do it quickly. In reality, Ferrari helped us a bit in the battle we have with the two McLaren drivers. Otherwise, in the drivers’ championship, we could have lost a good part of Max’s lead.”
“In the constructors’ championship, unsurprisingly, it’s evening out bit by bit. We will not give up and will fight to the end. It is now a real fight, until the end of the year.”
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Monza Misfire: Red Bull Struggles at Italian GP Monza Misfire: Red Bull Struggles at Italian GP
