Red Bull has been struggling with its car – the RB20 – since the Miami GP this season, with its drivers complaining about the balance. McLaren meanwhile, despite a slow start, has become competitive, outperforming Red Bull in circuits where they were expected to struggle. 14 races in, McLaren’s challenger – the MCL38 – seems like the faster car.
Red Bull’s Team Principal Christian Horner, in an interview, revealed the main difference between the RB20 and MCL38. He said,
“The RB20 has a very narrow operating window and that’s what’s causing our drivers and engineers difficulty. We need to recover something in terms of balance to widen the operating window, we’re aware of that and we’re focusing all our energy on that.”
Christian Horner told RacingNews365: “McLaren has a wider operating window than us at the moment.”
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McLaren has been able to perform well using all tire compounds, whereas Red Bull keeps struggling on some, depending on the circuit and conditions.
On bumpy circuits with a lot of kerbs, both Red Bull drivers – Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez – have complained about the car’s balance. To rectify this, the team raised the height of the car, which ended up affecting the RB20’s pace.
McLaren is 42 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship. And with 10 races to go, Red Bull needs to find a way to operate the RB20 in a wider window. If they fail, McLaren could oust them, come the end of the campaign.
How did McLaren beat Red Bull in the development race?
At the start of the season, McLaren struggled a lot with slow corners. However, a new front suspension geometry, sidepod input, front wing, floor, and a revised engine cover changed their fortunes.
The MCL38 developed a wider operating window, as Horner suggested. It kept the basic characteristics of the car intact but increased its peak performance.
Mercedes had a similar issue at the start of the season with Lewis Hamilton stating that the W15 was on a knife’s edge. For them, a new floor and a front wing brought to Montreal, resolved the issue. Mercedes instantly found the pace and won three of the last four races heading into the summer break.
