Faced with crazy theories, Red Bull assures that it did not modify its F1 in Miami

After a dominant start to the 2024 season, only slowed down by an early retirement from Max Verstappen during the Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull experienced a sudden drop in form from the Miami GP and ultimately lost the fight for the constructors' title. at the end of the campaign.

If some have struggled to explain this shift, which saw McLaren, Ferrari and sometimes Mercedes return to the level or even ahead of the Austrian team, the modification, a few months later, of an article of the technical regulations aroused suspicion of part of the public. Indeed, the addition of a clarification concerning the ban on asymmetric brakes has retroactively been linked to the fall in form of the Austrian team and some have estimated that if Red Bull had lost its advantage, it is because that it had such a system up until Miami.

Despite the fact that the FIA ​​expressly indicated that no team had used such a device and that the text in its previous version was already sufficient to prohibit any system allowing directional braking, doubt remained in certain minds, fueled by the way Red Bull's competitiveness has evolved and by the problems faced by Max Verstappen in terms of balance under braking.

But the technical director of Red Bull Racing, Pierre Waché, wants to be very clear: no changes were made to the RB20 in Miami, and in particular not to the braking system. Also, when Motorsport.com asked him exclusively what happened after the Florida round, the Frenchman replied: “That's a good question, because we didn't change the car. We didn't change the way we set up the car, so it seems like it was more in the others that there was a change. big change.”

Waché also does not fail to point out that the Miami event was marked by particular circumstances – with damage following a passage over a keel then a Safety Car which allowed Lando Norris to take the lead. event – which led to Verstappen's defeat even though he was dominating the event.

However, he judges that McLaren had already made up a large part of its gap: “But to be honest, in Miami we should have won the race. However, we were no longer the fastest. We were at the same level and, clearly, something changed in terms of what was done, especially from McLaren.”

“They managed to have less degradation than everyone else and their package seemed to work really well from there. I don't know what they did, you have to ask them and not me. But I know “What we did with the car on our side was similar to what we had experienced in China.”

“We made changes at Suzuka and in China, and they worked very well. In Miami we were more or less in the game, but during the race we saw that McLaren had found the right formula in terms of performance .”

Asked about the theories that have emerged regarding asymmetric braking, Waché insisted: “Just to be clear: the car hasn't changed. There was also nothing fundamental about the settings that could explain why we were slower. And we analyze everything, because it's our job to look into about these things and to understand them.

We were more surprised by the progress others made.

Then he added: “I think we were more surprised by the progress others made. Also, looking at what they did, it's not a huge amount…it's more like the whole the car started working together, so it was a very big surprise.”

On a more personal level, Waché assures that he is not affected by the emergence of theories linking Red Bull's decline in form to the use of an illegal system, believing that the pressure he has on the shoulders to achieve results is already a sufficient load.

“No. It doesn't affect me. It doesn't change the fact that every weekend the team and I have the pressure to present the best possible car to win the race. The speculation and what happens around it doesn't matter. don't change the way you react to things. I have enough pressure and I don't need to create more for myself.”

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