F1 | Red Bull: the Verstappen factor now proves decisive

In the last two seasons Red Bull has subjugated its opponents thanks to an evident technical superiority. This year, somewhat surprisingly, the track is confirming race after race a progressive convergence of the values ​​on the field, creating a balance in which the hierarchies are determined by the tenth of a second. In this scenario, other variables make the difference, as clearly emerged over the weekend in Montreal. The victory in the Canadian Grand Prix, of great importance in the economy of the two world rankings, came thanks to perfect management of the race and Max Verstappen who once again confirmed himself in stellar form.

The world champion’s sixtieth victory in Formula 1 was very ‘racing’, built with perfect timing of the calls to the pits, with the choice of the right tires at the right time, and with a Verstappen who finally manages to be seen for what he And.

It may seem paradoxical, but Red Bull’s loss of technical superiority is benefiting Max a lot, highlighting the importance of his contribution, undeniably decisive in putting the car in a position in which, according to the technical hierarchies, it should not be .

“Just look at the restarts and see how he managed to exploit the conditions – commented Christian Horner – he did a perfect job integrating impeccably with the decisions of the pit wall. Strategically we made the right choices, it was a very rewarding race to win.”

In a race in which all the drivers made mistakes, Verstappen got away with a mistake in turn 2, which was immediately recovered, otherwise a sequence of flawless stints. On the twentieth lap he gave up a position to George Russell, trying to lose as little time as possible at a time when Mercedes’ technical superiority was clear, and then unleashed himself in the last eleven laps, after the safety car’s final entry onto the track. The initial breakthrough on Norris, then the escape towards the sixth success of the season.

“At the end of the first stint Lando seemed to be in a position to make the race his own – explained Horner – then the pit stops came and we fitted another set of intermediate tires taking advantage of the safety car. Lando stayed on the track an extra lap and found himself third. When the race restarted we managed to maintain a consistent gap, then it was a matter of understanding the right moment to switch to slicks, because the first sector was humid and when you exited the pit lane the tires lost a lot of temperature.”

Verstappen put on dry tires on lap 45. “We expected to see Norris pit the next lap – admitted Horner – instead they left him on track for another two laps, and this allowed Max to warm up his tires by overtaking him of momentum after his stop, when Lando was still struggling with cold tyres.”

Montreal is an important success, for Verstappen but also for Red Bull, which arrived in Canada with many fears. “We still managed to win two of the last three races – admitted Horner – we know we have some problems but we found the right compromise between the aerodynamic platform and the need to use the curbs. It was encouraging to see that our third sector was competitive despite a very stiff car. Even in the race we were competitive in that stretch. Surprised by Mercedes? They’ve always done well on ‘green’ circuits, and in Montreal there are no real high-speed corners. I believe that the change of asphalt played to their strengths, we will see in the next tracks if they will be confirmed or if it was a one-off weekend”.

Christian Horner, Team Principal Red Bull Racing

Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool

Then Horner took a step back from James Allison, who in recent days had defined the latest updates brought to the track by Red Bull as a ‘downgrade’: “If this is really the case then I must say that our downgrade has managed to beat their upgrade!”.

The only bad note at the end of the Canadian weekend was Sergio Perez, who left Montreal with a retirement and a three-place penalty (which he will serve on the starting grid of the next race in Barcelona) for having driven one lap of the track with the single-seater damaged after going off the track during the fifty-second lap. “Checo just has to forget Canada 2024 – concluded Horner – we had a problem in qualifying which contributed a little to the balance of his weekend, now he has to show up in form in Barcelona, ​​we know he is capable of doing it and I’m sure he will do it ”.