Imola test, Red Bull reveals the ‘mystery’

The Imola test

In the Barcelona paddock in recent hours there has been a lot of talk about the mysterious ‘secret test’ organized by Red Bull in Imola on 19 June. It was the same one who took to the track on this occasion Max Verstappendriving the 2022 RB18the car with which the Dutchman had achieved victory on the Santerno track that year.

Monaghan’s explanation

But why did the reigning world champion team and leader of both world championship rankings feel the need to carry out a track test with a two-season old single-seater, as per the sporting regulations? The chief engineer explained it directly to the journalists present in Catalonia this weekend Paul Monaghanwho talked about the need to have a concrete reference compared to characteristics that the old RB18 had and on which the current RB20 evidently lacks certainty.

Question of references

“We tried to give Max a reference from a previous car – explained the British engineer – when trying to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the current car, its reference [di Verstappen] It is the current car. They told us [i piloti] ‘in previous years we had this and that’. But is it really like that? Because we never raced (the cars, RB18 and RB20) at the same time. So using that machine we tried to give Max a reference to judge it and he was able to give us feedback. Now it’s up to us to decide what to do with it. His feedback on the current car will not changewe simply gave it a different reference”concluded Monaghan.