F1 | Red Bull speeds up development after Zandvoort setback

For the first part of the Dutch Grand Prix held last weekend in Zandvoort, many thought they would witness the usual script: pole for Lando Norris, bad start for the British driver and comfortable victory for Max Verstappen in front of his home crowd after overtaking at Turn 1. But the reality today is very different from what we saw until a few weeks ago.

Now McLaren is flying, it is the reference of Formula 1 in terms of technology and performance. It is not only the success obtained by Norris in Zandvoort that says it, but above all the gap that he inflicted on Verstappen once he regained the lead of the race thanks to an overtaking on the track: almost 23 seconds (22″896 to be precise).

A gap that Red Bull was not used to. Even in the last races not won, Max had not suffered so evidently from McLaren’s superiority. This time, however, things went very differently and clearly: Red Bull is the second force and has a large gap to recover.

At the end of the Dutch weekend, Milton Keynes consultant Helmut Marko tried to explain what happened. The particular conformation of the track, the asphalt temperatures and the choice of set-up on Max’s RB20 (a more loaded rear wing, which gave benefits in qualifying but penalised him in the race) were all factors that had an impact.

“I think it was partly track specific,” Marko told Servus TV. “Partly it was also the temperature, which was relatively low. The interesting thing is that Piastri was driving more or less at the same pace as Lando after the pit stop, and when he got stuck behind Leclerc, nothing worked.”

“Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for Lando when he overtook Max. So there are some inconsistencies, but today we were clearly and quite beaten, to an extent that is also alarming.”

According to Marko, Red Bull is aware of the main problems that are plaguing the RB20. There is a lack of balance, a set-up that can help the car to slide less on the tyres, to exploit them again as at the beginning of the season without suffering from wear.

That’s why the updates planned for the second part of the season are coming. But the beating suffered in Zandvoort will accelerate the times of realization and, consequently, also those of arrival and use in order to fill the gap that today separates Red Bull from McLaren and defend at least the primacy in the Drivers’ World Championship that Max Verstappen can still boast.

!We know more or less where the problems are. The car needs to be more balanced. Balance means the driver has more confidence and slides less. This improves tyre wear. There are some things in the pipeline. How long will they take to arrive? In light of this defeat, it is more likely that they will arrive yesterday than today.”