Formula 1 is currently in a four-week long break before returning to the United States Grand Prix. This sort of autumn break will allow the teams to develop their cars one last time to try to resolve their problems before the end of the season.
This is the case of Mercedes, Ferrari and even Red Bull who have all announced the introduction of developments. The Austrian team hopes to make up for the delay it made during the last rounds against McLaren, who has meanwhile taken the lead in the constructors’ championship while Lando Norris is slowly closing in on the leader of the drivers’ standings, Max Verstappen.
“I think all the teams will bring something to Austin, since it’s a pretty good time of year to do so.”said Red Bull boss Christian Horner in the F1 Nation podcast. “What we seek to do on our side is to build based on the understanding [de la monoplace] that we really started to have since Monza, to have a car that is well balanced, front and rear, that the drivers can have confidence in.”
“[Austin] will be a very different challenge [des derniers circuits]. The first sector is very fast. Part of the circuit has been redone. So there is another variable to take into account. It’s a sprint weekend, so you have to get into the swing of things straight away. All these elements must be taken into account. But the whole team has worked very hard to understand the issues, resolve them and hopefully implement solutions on the car for Austin.”
Max Verstappen in parc ferme after his 6th place at the Italian Grand Prix.
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
The Italian Grand Prix was really complicated for Red Bull since the Monza circuit highlighted the problems of the RB20, particularly with its floor. Horner explained that after analysis, the Austrian team discovered that these difficulties date back to the 2023 season.
“We’ve seen aerodynamic issues that, when you peel back a little bit, date back to 2023”recognizes the British engineer. “And I think Max, because of his ability to drive around the problems, was able to deal with it. While Checo [Sergio Pérez] was much more affected.”
“In reality, when we took the downforce off the car at Monza, it exposed the disconnect between the front and rear axles, and the numbers we expected to see on the track were light years off. of those that our simulation tools had given us.”
Horner recently said the problems in Italy had allowed Red Bull to “bounce back” in a better development direction. The team appears to have already made some progress since then, given Verstappen’s second place at the Singapore Grand Prix. The director hopes to continue this momentum although there is still a lot of work to do according to him.
“Based on Lando’s performance [Norris] during his first stint in Singapore we need around 23 seconds”Horner said. “But I think we’ve started to figure things out and find solutions. Max managed to qualify the car on the front row in Singapore, which is a phenomenal achievement… Especially considering it was far from being our best circuit last year.”
“So, yes, we have a lot to do. I think it’s like all these things: how the car interacts mechanically, aerodynamically, and of course, how to place the tires, which are particularly sensitive this year, in this window performance magic? These are all these elements [sur lesquels nous devons travailler]but we are determined to fight to get our heads above water.”
With Oleg Karpov
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