Red Bull had a near-perfect season in 2023 since they went on a 14-race winning streak and clinched every race win but one. However, the Milton Keynes outfit is not satisfied with this feat as well. They are troubled about their struggles at the Singapore Grand Prix which was the only stain on its impeccable season.
The Singapore GP was no less than a nightmare for both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. In their all-conquering RB19, both drivers struggled badly throughout the weekend and got knocked out in Q2. Red Bull’s Head of Performance Engineering Ben Waterhouse has summarized the challenges their driver duo faced at Marina Bay.
In a conversation with Racecar Engineering Magazine, he explained as quoted on X (formerly Twitter), “I think we suffered with instability, low-speed understeer, and poor traction. As soon as you’re in that situation, you’re then struggling with tire temperatures, and then any disturbance, whether it’s a gear shift, a bump… all these problems are compounded”.
According to Waterhouse, the RB19 was not in the “window where it needs to be”. Naturally, he accepted it was the team’s fault that they were not able to prepare the car accordingly.
️ | Ben Waterhouse on the painful experience of Singapore GP in 2023
“I think we suffered with instability, low-speed understeer and poor traction. As soon as you’re in that situation, you’re then struggling with tyre temperatures, and then any disturbance, whether it’s a gear… pic.twitter.com/aw0tweswog
— RBR News (@redbulletin) January 6, 2024
Since both drivers started outside the top 10, it was all about damage control for Red Bull. On a narrow street track, they had little overtaking opportunities and could at best get into the points, let aside a podium. Still, Verstappen did what he does best to outperform the car and finish P5 despite all the limitations.
Meanwhile, Perez finished 8th. Still, they deemed it to be a disappointing weekend, and precisely so considering that they won every other race this season.
Therefore, not even getting a podium at the Marina Bay was definitely a weekend to write off and forget. Regardless, Waterhouse reflected how they have taken learnings from this aberration of a performance.
Red Bull believes they didn’t react strongly enough to understand the problems. However, they have now understood after a detailed debrief and noted what to do for future races like these.
What is Adrian Newey’s perspective on Red Bull struggling in Singapore?
Adrian Newey is one of the most revered men in the F1 paddock currently. After designing one of the most dominant cars in F1 history, the 65-year-old is still pushing for improvements. However, he was extremely grateful for how 2023 went for his team.
He revealed on the Formula for Success podcast that “no one ever expected” the season to go as it did. The Austrian team thought that it would be very “tough” for them.
The British designer then touched upon the struggles in Singapore. He emphasized the need to understand their “weaknesses” despite a dominant run of winning 21 out of 22 races. It is the odd Marina Bay race that Newey feels was a learning experience for the team.
He stated, “It’s quite useful for us because we made a complete and utter arse of that if I’m honest. It exposed some weaknesses in the car”. The Red Bull CTO is now looking forward to eradicating those weaknesses in 2024. Newey has always been an advocate of continuous progress and improvement.
Thus, some would say Red Bull wants to achieve perfection despite being so dominant. But from Newey’s perspective, it is all about progress and not being complacent despite past success.
One never knows if Red Bull’s rivals turn up with an equivalent car and make life difficult like Singapore at every other race in 2024. Therefore, Newey and Co need to keep developing the Red Bull car.
