Pierre Waché is clear about Red Bull’s approach this year: the car should be easier to drive and the car should be easier to setup, as the French technical director explained to PlanetF1. The Frenchman also addressed the Austrian team’s development approach for the rest of the season.
During the three days of testing in Bahrain, Red Bull was surely the team that experimented the most with their new car, trying to extract the full potential from the RB21. A lot of changes were made and some new components appeared on the last day, but according to technical Director Pierre Waché, they didn’t yield the results they hoped. Let’s try to understand why.
The RB20 was far from the most liked car by its drivers. Pierre Waché, technical director of Red Bull Racing, has now reacted Adrian Newey’s comments about where the development went wrong for the Austrians.
Christian Horner was asked about it during the test days in Bahrain: Was the car Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson were driving really a new Red Bull Racing car? Indeed the RB21 has many external features of its predecessor, the RB20, but there are many differences under the bodywork and in the floor, among others, also states technical director Pierre Waché.
During the three days of testing in Bahrain, McLaren clearly seemed to have the quickest car with a little gap in front of the other three top teams. Despite not completing as many laps as the competitors, the MCL39 looked extremely well balanced and comfortable in almost every condition, also thanks to the new front suspension. Let’s try to understand why.
The winter test in Bahrain did not go entirely as expected for Red Bull Racing. Technical director Pierre Waché stressed that the Austrian F1 team had hoped for better, but at the same time stated that any issues are better found before the start of the season than when the season is in full swing.
In the run-up to the new season, the Formula 1 paddock is once again abuzz with possible variations on the much-discussed ‘mini-DRS’ used by McLaren last year. During test days in Bahrain, onboard images surfaced that raised question marks at Red Bull Racing and other teams over the flexibility of some rear wings.
Red Bull Racing opted to drive with Liam Lawson in the car all day today. This meant Max Verstappen was not in action on Thursday. However, Pierre Waché said the feedback Lawson gave was in line with that of the Dutchman.
As early as Friday, Red Bull Racing are planning to have new parts ready on their car. The team’s technical director Pierre Waché talked to PlanetF1 about the changes coming to the RB20 on the Friday in Bahrain.
The first day of testing offered close gaps between all the top teams, but every driver was on a different program during different segments of the day. After spending a lot of time to do a complete scan of all configurations (both aerodynamical and mechanical settings), Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes focused on short race pace simulations with different fuel loads and with interesting results.
