Red Bull’s poor performance has become a norm at every race weekend now and the main factor behind their slump is their car. The RB20’s aggressive concept is now throwing up several issues with the handling and balance of the car and not helping Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez extract the most out of it. F1 expert Tim Hauraney feels that Red Bull is not listening to either of its drivers to iron out the car’s issues.
On the Nailing the Apex podcast, Hauraney said, “One of the issues that Red Bull has had is not listening to their drivers. When I say that I mean from the standpoint of bringing upgrades, building the car for the rest of the season.” He explained that engineers in F1 are mainly looking at data and relying on those insights to develop the car.
But the side-effect of this approach is they can “lose the drivability of the car”. Hauraney added Red Bull have been chasing downforce points but “have lost track of what does Max need, what does Sergio need, what do they need as the drivers to get that confidence.”
The Milton Keynes outfit hasn’t won a race since the Spanish GP. This has been their longest winless run since the 2020 season. Moreover, they have also lost the lead in the constructors’ championship, with McLaren now leading them by 20 points after the Azerbaijan GP.
Blunt words from Max Verstappen following his P6 finish in the Italian GP…
…are Red Bull powerless to stop both 2024 F1 titles slipping between their fingers? pic.twitter.com/MpcnIaWOu3
— Autosport (@autosport) September 1, 2024
As far as the development of the RB20 is concerned, Red Bull are planning to bring upgrades to the US GP in October. However, they may not be able to fully eliminate all issues of the car — including the car’s tendency to have a bad ride due to a stiff suspension.
The root cause of Red Bull’s issues
Team principal Christian Horner admitted that they took a wrong turn with their car development back at the 2023 Spanish GP. Since the RB20 has been an evolution of the all-conquering RB19, it makes sense why Red Bull’s struggles seem so amplified.
Horner stated that they ignored the symptoms of these impending issues because Verstappen kept winning last season. However, the Dutchman himself does not feel confident with the handling of the car.
In Baku as well, Verstappen encountered several issues with the car’s traction in low-speed corners as well as not having enough bite in the braking zones. While he has constantly pushed the team to bring upgrades and find a solution to the problems they face, Red Bull seems a bit lost in their development this season, with no guarantee of things improving so far.
