Question mark behind the Monza update: Racing Bulls will test two different underbody variants on Formula 1 Friday in Baku 2024
After the Racing Bulls Formula 1 team took a big step towards the top of the midfield with a major update at the start of the season in Miami, they got bogged down with additional upgrades as the season progressed, as did other teams. First, an underbody introduced in Spain did not work as planned and the latest update in Monza has probably not yet removed all the question marks.
Racing Bulls has now introduced five different underbody specifications in 2024, but none seems to be the clear number one at the current stage of development. Daniel Ricciardo will be running the Monza underfloor at the upcoming Friday practice session in Azerbaijan, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda will be testing an older version.
When asked why he is not also using the new underbody, Tsunoda says: “Apparently there were a number of reasons other than the underbody. We still need to understand it properly, because the numbers are there, but at the same time I didn’t feel that the numbers were getting to the track. And it was clearly evident that I was struggling [at Monza].”
“I’ve now changed to a slightly more normal underbody and I’m obviously curious to see how I feel in the car with it and how it behaves,” the Japanese driver continued. “And depending on which one generates the better lap time, I will then decide which way to go. Maybe his car is better, then I would switch back. But if mine works well, I’ll stick with my underbody. “
Baku as a showpiece track: Racing Bulls first force in the midfield?
However, the Baku City Circuit should be a good place for the Racing Bulls, regardless of the underbody. For years, the car’s strength has been in slow corners, and there are plenty of them in Baku. In the last three years, the Faenza team has always finished in the points in Azerbaijan, and Pierre Gasly even made it onto the podium in 2021.
“I think that, historically speaking, the track normally suits our car well,” says Tsunoda. “Expectations are obviously high because this season has been very close, and some cars, some teams do well on other tracks, some don’t, and that can happen to our car as well. “
“I’m looking forward to it,” added Ricciardo, who won the race in Baku in a Red Bull in 2018. “I didn’t race here last year, so it’s another track I’m very excited about. It’s also a race where you can try out all sorts of things. It’s a race where we, especially those of us in the midfield, can be optimistic that we can get a special result on a track like this.”
“But first and foremost it’s about the updates. We’ll try to implement them tomorrow, get to know the track, get a feel for it and hopefully we’ll be in a good position on Sunday afternoon. “
