Red Bull's start to the season, leaving aside the 7 consecutive poles and 5 out of 8 wins races played, it wasn't so dominant. Compared to last season, in fact, the Milton Keynes team has highlighted many critical issues. Although it may have been a cut above everyone else, even last year the RB19 had some bad weekends. The most famous was certainly Singapore, where the Austrian car got into serious trouble. The same thing happened in other grand prix too, but their supremacy allowed them to cover up the whole. Max Verstappen also spoke about the difficulties that emerged in this first phase of the Red Bull season, who since the beginning of the season had to leave the top step of the podium to three different drivers: Sainz, Norris and Leclerc.
Red Bull in trouble? The RB20 doesn't like curbs
During this year, with minimal gaps between Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari, these issues have emerged more. The RB20, like the other two single-seaters following the regulatory change, cannot tolerate curbs. On city routes with many disconnections (see Monaco or Singapore) the cars are too stiff. This means having to lift the car off the ground more than its rivals, thus losing important tenths. Making a comparison between Leclerc and Verstappen, the latter was faster than the Ferrari driver on sections such as Massenet or the Casino.
Let's talk about areas where they exist few disconnections. The Red would then light up at the hairpin or at the swimming pool chicane, where necessary attack the curbs. Right at the slowest corner on the calendar, the #16 could attack the curb of the corner, while Max could not do so don't lose control of the car. This explains the clear difference between Red Bull and the others in the central sector.
Verstappen convinced: “It will take time, but we are working”
The difficulties are out in the open, and not even the three-time world champion can deny them. The Dutch lion has in fact expressed his opinion on the issue, explaining that all this is now established for some time: “It's a basic problem, we know about it but we don't know where it comes from. We are working hard to understand this, but we probably won't be able to this season. Obviously I hope the team fixes everything for next season".
ARTICLE BY FRANCESCO ORLANDO
Source statements: Motorsport.com
