Red Bull drivers say car’s “nasty characteristic” has improved

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says his drivers are reporting their car handles better in Baku than it did in Monza.

The team endured one of its worst weekends of the season so far at the Italian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen finished sixth, 37 seconds behind winner Charles Leclerc, and two places ahead of team mate Sergio Perez.

Having introduced further revisions to the RB20’s floor this weekend, Horner said the car’s handling has clearly improved.

“It’s still very, very tight, but I think we’ve got a better balance in the car and Sergio is definitely more in the comfort zone as well,” he told Sky. “So it’s going to be about getting that lap perfectly correct.

“What we’ve been playing with is, do you want the downforce to protect the [tyre] degradation, or do you take the downforce off for the straight-line speed which could increase the deg? So it’s that fine line.”

He said Red Bull have “been running a little heavier on downforce” and he believes Verstappen’s closest championship rival Lando Norris has done the same. “It was interesting, it looked like Lando had come towards us on downforce in that session, more focused on the race and obviously degradation being a crucial element. But it’s that trade.

“The good thing is both drivers are reporting some of the nasty characteristics that they had in Monza aren’t there, so that’s encouraging. It’s going to be about getting the perfect lap, maybe you get lucky with a tow, but, it looks very, very close.”

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At the end of final practice Red Bull appeared to co-ordinate their drivers’ runs so Verstappen would gain the benefit of a tow from Perez at the end of his lap. Horner indicated the team would not use Perez to give Verstappen the benefit of a slipstream in qualifying if it meant compromising his session too much.

“You want to be in that magic window,” he said. “I mean, you could totally sacrifice one driver, but then they’re out of position, and we want to have both drivers up there. And obviously as qualifying thins out, the ability to pick up a tow as you get towards Q3 just gets harder and harder.”

However he confirmed the team will use Perez to support Verstappen’s championship bid where possible. “Team orders are always a contentious subject but Checo knows 100% what his role and job is to support Max to the end of this championship, and obviously the constructors,” he said.

“So we’ve seen him, you only have to think back to Abu Dhabi 2021 to see what a team player Checo is. So for us, the game plan is pretty straightforward.”