F1 | Red Bull: Mistakes and problems weigh on Verstappen’s weekend

Monza is a special event, even though in recent years the calendar has been expanding with more and more races that require low-cost setups. On the other hand, however, the Italian stage also represents a bit the state of Red Bull, not so much for the final result, but for everything that surrounds the Milton Keynes team, between setup problems and continuous experiments to find the way back.

On Saturday in Monza there was a meeting to outline, once again, what the problems are with this car, which the drivers have actually been complaining about for a long time, what areas to work on and what direction to go. It is a process that began during the summer break, but it is clear that there will be no magic wand capable of solving all the problems in a short time, with the primary objective of finding the lost balance.

Meanwhile, Red Bull is somehow holding on to Max Verstappen in the pursuit of the drivers’ championship, but the Monza weekend was more complicated than expected even for the three-time world champion himself, resulting in his worst result of the season, shared with the sixth place obtained in Monaco. Considering that Lando Norris was unable to go beyond third place, Red Bull managed to limit the damage in the drivers’ standings, but the Monza round for Verstappen was much more complicated than it seems.

Time lost in the first stint

Looking at the starting grid, there are few drivers who decided to choose the hard tyre at the start of the race, especially because of the uncertainty related to graining and that the race could be directed between one and two stops precisely because of this phenomenon. Already on Friday it was seen how the RB20 suffered from graining both at the front and rear, synonymous with how this car struggles to find a good balance, although in the race it aligned itself with the opponents, suffering especially from the phenomenon on the front left.

Max said he didn’t regret the choice to start on medium, but rather the approach to the race itself, because it’s clear that Red Bull started with the intention of hoping for some external factor, such as a Safety Car, to recover positions. Although on paper this idea could have made sense in their two-stop strategy, on the other hand it also had its negative aspects, especially after the pit stop, which deprived him of the opportunity to concretely fight against a Mercedes that, in reality, was not as distant as the final standings might suggest.

As seen with other drivers, this race was all about managing graining, with the track improving significantly in the second half of the race thanks to the twenty cars that left rubber lap after lap. Sainz’s race gives a bit of an idea of ​​how getting rid of the medium at the start of the race was an effective choice for many: with those few extra laps completed by the Spaniard on the yellow-banded compound, the Prancing Horse driver fell out of the running for the podium, despite actually having a very similar pace to Leclerc in the second stint, except in the fight with the two McLarens.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool

For Verstappen, a similar dynamic occurred, because while it is true that he was able to stay with Lewis Hamilton in the first part of the race, he did so by exploiting the wild card of the harder and less graining-prone compound precisely when the track had less rubber, having to stay out longer in a disadvantageous situation. In the laps in which Verstappen stayed on the track longer, in fact, the seven-time world champion also gained a second for each pass: this, added to the slow pit of the Red Bull, meant that the Dutchman found himself from being in the DRS zone to a gap of about eight seconds, effectively compromising the race.

Looking at the time graph, in fact, we see how Verstappen maintained a very similar pace to Hamilton: clearly the seven less laps of rubber helped, but in a race where it wasn’t degradation that made the difference, but rather graining management, they weren’t as fundamental as they could have been in other events of the world championship. The final gap from the Englishman is also affected by the fact that Red Bull tried to defend itself from Norris to slow him down in the fight against Piastri and the two Ferraris, significantly increasing the deficit even with a final stint on the average that didn’t have much to say.

The Power Unit problem

“It was a pretty boring race, we were too slow. The pitstop, of course, cost me a little bit. Also the engine was not working at full capacity for most of the race, because we had a small issue. And I think also from a strategy point of view we could have done a better job to be at least a little bit more competitive,” Verstappen said after the race.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool

In fact, after lap 25, Verstappen saw the Power Unit power reduced when he was given a “fail”, which is one of those procedures that are usually used to activate or deactivate a sensor when something on the car is not proceeding correctly. “We had to disable part of the Power Unit performance, which is why you might have noticed an increase in clipping [il taglio di potenza in fondo ai rettilinei]. We hope we can restore [la situazione] later,” Lambiase radioed.

For a car that this week showed up with a rear wing not entirely suited to the characteristics of the Monza track, suffering further with the Power Unit increased the derating problems at the end of the straights, reaching at times even a ten km/h difference compared to Hamilton. Even in the duel with Norris, Verstappen did not have full power available, being able to only act with the mappings for a few laps to try to recharge the battery and use the overboost on the straights to defend himself.

Fighting against Hamilton with this difference would not have been easy, especially considering that the cuts on the DRS flap to reduce drag have somewhat reduced the efficiency of the Red Bull mobile wing here in Monza, but the pace, however, seemed to be able to put him in the fight. Perhaps it would have been difficult to go sixth, but it is clear that, at this moment, the Milton Keynes team must find its best form to give Verstappen a less unpredictable car, as demonstrated by the difficulties of Saturday.