Motorsport Week continues its team-by-team mid-season Formula 1 review with Red Bull, which has had another season of triumphs mixed with frustrations.
Red Bull recognised the 2017 regulations as an opportunity but initial correlation problems skewered its prospects, and it took until mid-season to recover, after which it was able to compete for wins. It targeted a stronger start this year and has thus avoided spending the year playing catch-up, though it remains at a disadvantage to Ferrari and Mercedes – the deficit of which it firmly dumps on Renault’s shoulders. It is simply not as quick in qualifying – owing to the lack of boost modes – and that has usually left Red Bull’s drivers at the lower end of row two or row three. That leaves it at a disadvantage for race trim in normal circumstances, while inferior reliability has also been costly in the context of the modern area. Red Bull’s management has seen enough from Renault and decided that Honda is the future – though faced a side-swipe of its own in the wake of Daniel Ricciardo’s departure. Red Bull is fed up of being the distant bridesmaid; time will tell whether its Honda marriage will yield the desired leap forwards.
This has been a typical Daniel Ricciardo season: stunningly opportunistic, limited by machinery, or on the sidelines. Of the 12 Grands Prix held this year he has either won, finished fourth or fifth, or retired – perhaps epitomising Red Bull’s form in the hybrid era. Ricciardo grasped his chance with both hands in China to thrillingly carve past rivals, and in Monaco he was simply peerless all weekend, achieving a sort of redemption after his 2016 heartache. Elsewhere it has been a case of bagging the points, in an often lonely fashion, or parking up his stricken RB14 – and there was also the high-profile clash with Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan, for which he internally copped more blame than externally. Off-track much of Ricciardo’s year has been focused on his 2019 decision (the first questions came pre-season) and after Hungary he sprung a surprise by defecting to Renault. Now out of title contention, let’s hope we get a few more Ricciardo divebombs and another win before the partnership ends.
It has been a half season of two halves for Verstappen. Across the first events every decision he made seemed to be the wrong ones, as he wrecked weekends with mistakes and clashes. In Australia he spun, in Bahrain he crashed in qualifying and hit Lewis Hamilton in the race, in China he spun Sebastian Vettel, having already gone wide, in Azerbaijan he collided with Ricciardo, in Monaco he crashed in practice, side lining him from a qualifying session he could have topped – or at least taken second. Since then he has taken a trio of podiums – including a brilliantly well-judged win on Red Bull’s home turf in Austria. It would appear that he has been through the rough patch, learned the lessons, and emerged from the other side as a stronger driver, without blunting his naturally aggressive driving style. And it is still terrifying to remember he is only 20…
