Liam Lawson faced a tough day in testing as RB21 reliability concerns emerged, with a water leak and Honda engine issues disrupting progress.
Red Bull Racing opted to run its second day of testing exclusively with Liam Lawson, allowing Max Verstappen to complete the final day of testing tomorrow in Sakhir.
The New Zealander managed a modest total of 91 laps, having been held up in the garage for a long period due to a water leak on his RB21, as well as operational issues with the Honda RBPT engine.
“I’m feeling increasingly comfortable in the car; overall, it was a busy day,” he commented this evening.
“As part of testing, we had to deal with a few early-stage issues with the car throughout the day, but it’s simply a matter of getting to know the single-seater from my side.”
“Some of our runs were cut short, and we also had to contend with unpredictable weather, which wasn’t ideal for our run plan—though I imagine that was the case for most drivers.”
“All this work remains extremely valuable ahead of Melbourne, and we believe we’re in a positive position. These are the most important things when it comes to pre-season, and it was already my last time in the car before Melbourne.”
“To ensure we get everything right, I’ll follow the final day from the garage, and we’ll take lessons from it to set up the best-balanced car for the first race.”
Pierre Waché, Red Bull Racing’s technical director, summed up the day.
“We decided to dedicate a full day to Liam today to continue preparing him for the season. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t ideal, with some rain early in the day, so we opted for a race simulation to help Liam get familiar with long stints and assess the car’s overall reliability over race distance.”
“In the afternoon, our goal was to understand the car with the C3 tire, explore setup options, and assess the car’s overall balance. We aimed to get a complete picture of the car today and understand its full direction, but it was also difficult to judge its performance in these conditions and measure tire temperatures. However, Liam responded well today, and his feedback was very close to Max’s. We now have solid knowledge to apply for the final day of testing, with Max in the car.”
Rumors suggest the RB21 could be quite different tomorrow. Does Waché confirm this?
“No, it won’t be radically different. We’ll be evaluating some parts. It depends on the schedule and everything else, but I think everyone is doing the same. Nothing has changed compared to previous years.”
“You have your baseline car, and you try to bring elements from the full development system onto the track as soon as possible. Depending on the manufacturing capacity of the parts and other factors, you try to assess as much as possible before the first race.”
“We’ll have new parts for the third day, but it’s not a major difference.”
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RB21 Troubles: Water Leak and Honda Engine Issues for Lawson RB21 Troubles: Water Leak and Honda Engine Issues for Lawson
