Max Verstappen has insisted Red Bull held “good meetings” at its Milton Keynes headquarters last week in a bid to address the ills of an unforgiving car that is threatening to derail the team’s championship ambitions this year.
The RB21 has proven a handful to drive over the two grands prix in Australia and China so far this campaign, even for Verstappen, whilst it has cost Liam Lawson his seat with Red Bull who afforded him little time to overcome the issues.
Instead, Yuki Tsunoda now finds himself in the hot seat, with Red Bull hoping his four years of experience with the ‘sister’ team will prove beneficial as it tries to overcome the problematic balance woes that have so far undermined its performance.
“We are focusing on making the car more drivable,” said Verstappen, who travelled to Milton Keynes after the Chinese GP to work with the team and engineers on searching for answers. “I don’t think, of course, we are there yet, but we are working on it.
“Last week we had good meetings in the factory with everyone involved to try and address the things that we want to address in the car, find more balance, and of course, in the end, more pace in the car.”
Arguably, the biggest problem with the car is the way it handles in corners – on entry, through corners, and on exit.
“You try to work on one bit, but then it might shift a little in the other direction,” said Verstappen. “It’s not easy to find a middle ground.”
As to whether a limiting factor was the downforce or instability, he added: “It’s a combination of a lot of things. It depends on the corner speed, tarmac, tyres overheating, bumps, kerbs. There’s a lot.
“It’s different things, and then some tracks, some bits are more limiting than others. It depends a lot on the track layout as well.”
Red Bull puzzle hard to piece together
With Verstappen struggling to handle the car, an evolution of last year’s RB20 that also played its part in Sergio Perez’s exit, he can appreciate why it has proven so difficult to drive for his team-mates.
“It’s hard [to explain] because, for me, this is the only car that I know,” he assessed. “From what I see out there, it is a little bit more nervous, a little bit more, I would say, unstable in different corner phases.
“Some bits are good, are faster, but to piece it all together is probably a bit harder.
“We are always actively discussing but some issues are easier to solve than others, and some are more difficult. We’re trying. Everyone is trying their hardest and their very best to make the car faster at the end of the day.”
Verstappen if the problems can finally be solved, it will aid Tsunoda in his cause to get to grips with it as swiftly as possible.
“Our main issue is the car is not where we want it to be, I think everyone knows that within the team as well, and that’s what I focus on, to be honest,” said Verstappen.
“As soon as the car is more competitive, more drivable in general, then, [for] the second car, it will come to you a bit more.”
