Max Verstappen believes that Red Bull’s wealth of upgrades for the Miami Grand Prix have so far “almost halved” the gap to the leaders, but still sees weaknesses in this year’s RB22 to work on.
Red Bull caught the eye with its own interpretation of the “Macarena” rear wing; when the active aero system is turned on for straight mode, the wing rotates around 180 degrees. Although Ferrari was first seen in testing with the device, Red Bull was adamant that it had its own version in development long before it was ever seen in the flesh.
The team also has new sidepods, increasing their width from side-to-side to incorporate a waterslide-like ramp along the top surface to offer more direction to the airflow passing over the top.
To satisfy the reprofiled sidepods, the engine cover and the floor have been reworked. Furthermore, the exhaust also appears to have a flap at the exit port to work in a similar way to Ferrari’s exhaust winglet seen earlier this season.
Giving his first verdict of the updated RB22, Verstappen felt that the car was “more together”; he took it to fifth on the grid for the Miami sprint race, just under 0.6s off Lando Norris’ pole time. By comparison, Verstappen missed the Q3 cut-off in Suzuka, having been 1.2s slower than Kimi Antonelli in Q2.
“It feels more together. Of course, there are still things that we are working on. But it’s been a really positive step for us. Last few races we were over a second behind. I would say we have almost halved that gap now,” Verstappen said.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images
“So that’s positive. We’re still very weak in the first sector, which is mainly high speed. So we know that we need to work on that.
“But, yeah, the rest seemed all a bit more together. So a bit happier with that. At least it seems like we have cleared a little bit the midfield.
“It feels a bit more normal. It’s still not where I want it to be, obviously. But it’s at least allowing me to trust it a bit more. And I can basically take a bit more lap time out of it.”
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies told Sky Germany that the car’s new fittings were “in the right direction”, and that both drivers had agreed that the RB22 was now more consistent.
Although many of the updates had been targeted at aero load, Red Bull’s notes in the usual FIA technical document circulated to media stated that increasing flow stability was also key to its developments.
“It’s been a very intense five-week period. We know we had quite a lot of issues to get to the bottom of and I think that’s what the guys have done,” Mekies said.
“We knew coming here, especially after having run in Silverstone, [that] we had not solved everything. But pretty much we had the confirmation that we are going to the right direction.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images
“It’s a closest gap to pole that we ever had this year. So, you know, don’t get me wrong. The competition is extremely strong. Everybody is progressing.
“But also from the drivers comments from Max, for me, that it’s it’s something a bit more consistent, so definitely the direction of travel is better.”
Although Hadjar was also pleased to have a more competitive car, he was nonetheless puzzled by his one-second gap to Verstappen after sprint qualifying and could offer no explanation to the deficit.
“I got through SQ3, which is a start. But then to be a second off, I don’t know why.
I’ve never been more than a tenth off so far this year when it mattered,” Hadjar said. “So, yeah, I don’t know what’s going on.”
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