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Jos Verstappen's fears confirmed by Red Bull: 'Solution not yet found'
Red Bull Racing struggled with the balance of the RB20 in 2024. Speaking to Motorsport.com, Pierre Waché explains how those problems came about, but there is also worrying news as those problems have not yet been resolved.
Red Bull Racing's balance problems were a common problem throughout the season. Early in 2024, when Red Bull still seemed dominant, Max Verstappen complained about the balance of his car. While the Dutchman continued to win races at the beginning of the season, Red Bull sank further and further down the pecking order during the season.
According to Red Bull Racing's technical director, this stemmed from two problems: "The first aspect is correlation. The car had some different characteristics than expected, especially in terms of aerodynamics. Secondly, there were certain aspects that we did not expect to have as much impact on the performance as they had," the Frenchman stated.
Why Red Bull suffered balance problems
The correlation problems are not the first occurrence at Red Bull Racing. The outdated wind tunnel has caused problems many times in the past, and again in 2024. According to Waché, Red Bull came up with new updates that seemed good at the factory, but actually caused performance to drop on the track.
The issue would be the loss of so-called downforce points. Whereas in the wind tunnel, it seemed that there were enough downforce points, on the track it became clear that there was a gap between the wind tunnel and the real thing. That gap caused the RB20's balance problems.
After Max Verstappen insisted on talking to the engineers, some progress was made after the Hungarian Grand Prix. The balance got better and better but in a very narrow 'window'. This meant that the slightest changes could cause Red Bull to drive at the front, or, conversely, not come close to victory at all.
So the balance problems had not been fully resolved by the end of 2024, which is the main area of improvement for the 2025 car, according to Red Bull Racing's technical director.
Jos Verstappen doubts Red Bull Racing
Jos Verstappen strongly questioned Red Bull Racing's development. Speaking to German F1 Insider, Jos openly doubted a fifth world title for his son Max. "Red Bull needs to build a car that is easier to predict under all circumstances. If you look at the second half of 2024, you cannot be optimistic. Red Bull simply failed to make the car consistently fast. So why should that be the case this year?"
The fact that Red Bull faced a turn for the worse in 2024 is due to the departure of Adrian Newey, according to Jos Verstappen. "The fact is that the car did not improve when he left the team. In particular, the updates no longer worked as desired. I have talked enough about the reasons why the team is in danger of falling apart. Let's leave it at that. One thing is certain: Red Bull has a big challenge ahead of it in 2025."
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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