For the first time this season, Red Bull Racing faced defeat as neither Max Verstappen nor Sergio Perez were able to finish in the top three in Singapore. However, there are allegations that it was not Ferrari’s performance that saw Red Bull lose their winning streak, but the latest FIA directive on flexible wings. This isn’t something that Christian Horner agreed to as he has come out to defend his team, as per German media outlet Auto Motor und Sport.
Carlos Sainz, with the win, broke the indomitable supremacy of the Austrian team that saw them take 15 back-to-back wins starting at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This happened due to the sheer underperformance of the ‘weak’ RB-19, as the team saw a major drop in performance at the Marina Bay Circuit.
The team that always finished on the top spot of the podium saw Verstappen finish his race in P5, whereas Perez finished the race in P8. However, their qualification was even worse as both the drivers went out in P11 and P13, whereas Ferrari took the pole position and P3.
Christian Horner talks about loss of advantage for Red Bull
Coming into the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, the FIA put up directives that outlawed the flexi-wings in the F1 challengers. This was the same race that saw a drastic dip in RB-19’s performance. Therefore, the experts and fans were of the opinion that the new technical directive curbed the Red Bull’s dominance.
Notably, Verstappen and Perez already mentioned before the race weekend, that the Singapore GP might not go in their favor. Admittedly, the car setup by the team didn’t go in their way either. Therefore the Milton-Keynes-based team lost their advantage.
Horner, snubbed the claims of technical directive being the cause of their drawback, opened up as per Auto Motor und Sport, “We didn’t have to change anything on the car or how we operate the setup.”
What do other teams think about Red Bull’s dip in performance?
As Red Bull seemed to have lost their massive advantage in Singapore, rivals took note of it. However, none of the rivals were sure if the dip had come through the new directive by the FIA.
Talking about this, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said, “Everyone had to react to the TDs in some way. Some more, others less. But you can’t say after two days of training and with one set of data whether that has had any effects.”
On the other hand, Fred Vasseur said that he doesn’t care about Red Bull. He cares about the improvement of his team. All in all, the direct effect of the clampdown on the flexible wing is yet to come out clearly as it is not possible to understand in one race weekend.
