His problems in Monaco are not new, but Red Bull have not yet understood them, admits Max Verstappen – a solution will take time
“It’s a fundamental problem that can’t be fixed within weeks,” says Max Verstappen, after struggling with similar difficulties at the Monaco Grand Prix as he has in the last two seasons
The Red Bull driver only qualified sixth in Monaco and finished the race in the same position, while his team-mate Sergio Perez retired in Q1 and then failed to finish after an accident on the first lap of the race.
The setback followed an equally difficult weekend in Imola, where Verstappen and Red Bull managed to fix the car’s handling issues between free practice and qualifying, allowing him to just about keep McLaren rival Lando Norris at bay.
Miami, where Norris won, and Melbourne were also weekends where Red Bull looked less comfortable than in the past 18 months.
Monaco now revealed another weakness on kerbs and bumps that costs the RB20 more power than other teams. It was largely carried over from last year, but back then the dominant RB19 was able to compensate for this weakness on almost every track except Singapore.
Verstappen: Solution will take time
The fact that this is no longer possible has set alarm bells ringing. Because according to Verstappen, it shows that the team from Milton Keynes still does not understand how to solve the problem. “We need to understand what it is, because we clearly don’t understand it,” warns the three-time Formula 1 world champion.
“But we will work hard to find the problem and then try to get rid of it. I don’t know if we can do that this year, but hopefully next year.”
With Ferrari and McLaren closing the gap, Red Bull will need perfect weekends to beat them. This also means that tracks where Red Bull enjoyed dominant wins last year are likely to become more difficult
Singapore is the most obvious example, because Red Bull went completely under there last year. But the Canadian Grand Prix next weekend in Montreal could also be one of them. The track has a few bumps and driving over the kerbs is important here
Which tracks could be difficult
Red Bull already had to contend with this at the same place last year. “There are definitely a few tracks on the calendar that are not ideal for us,” warns Verstappen.
“Any track that is uneven or where you have to drive over a lot of kerbs, so the street circuits, will probably be a bit difficult, but hopefully by then we’ll have a bit more understanding of what’s going on.”
However, the Dutchman also believes that tracks where bumps are less of an issue, such as Barcelona, will suit Red Bull all the more. “There are also some races that will suit our car better again. But we know what we need to work on,” says Verstappen.
“There is a clear direction in which I think we are still lacking a little performance. If we can get that under control, our car will be better at every track. “