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RB F1 Earns Point Amid Home Race Frustrations

RB F1 Earns Point Amid Home Race Frustrations

20/05/2024

RB F1 secured a point at Imola, but felt they could have done better in their home race, with frustrations over missed opportunities.

RB F1 secured a point thanks to Yuki Tsunoda at Imola, during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the team’s home race. Team principal Laurent Mekies explained that many employees were invited and had the opportunity to experience the race from the inside.

“With only 15 kilometers separating our Faenza factory from the Imola circuit, it was a special event for us, our first home race under the Visa Cash App RB banner,” said Mekies.

“It was fantastic to have so many factory employees here, creating a sort of blue army in a special VCARB stand and rotating our VIP passes to get as many as possible into the paddock.”

“It was our way of thanking everyone in Faenza, Bicester, and Honda for their hard work, which has given us good results and once again placed us at the front of the pack here in Imola,” continued the Frenchman, who delivered a mixed assessment of the weekend, particularly due to the start of the race.

“Even though the race leaves us a bit disappointed, as a better start from Yuki and Daniel would likely have created a better scenario for us, a point is a point, and there are many positives to take from the weekend.”

“Our qualifying performance proves that the improvements we implemented in Miami are definitely giving us the performance to continue fighting for sixth place in the Championship.”

“And now, we continue this momentum to tackle the unique challenge of Monaco. Daniel has been on the podium there four times, including a victory, and Yuki is in great form, so we will be pushing for another strong team performance.”

“Recent Upgrades Have Worked Well”

Technical director Jody Egginton shares his principal’s frustration: “It’s good to come away with a point for Yuki, but as Laurent said, there’s also a slight sense of frustration as we had the pace to potentially be higher at the end of the race.”

“We lost places with both cars at the start, which forced us to pit earlier than planned to try and recover, meaning we had to run longer than we wanted on the second set of tires. This allowed Stroll to run long with less traffic, and he took full advantage of it.”

“On the positive side, the car and recent upgrades worked well here, and it was a fantastic effort from everyone at the factory to provide these new parts. It was great to see so many of them here with us, celebrating in the stands all their hard work with a good result.”

RB F1 Earns Point Amid Home Race Frustrations

RB F1 Earns Point Amid Home Race Frustrations. RB F1 Earns Point Amid Home Race Frustrations

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