Max Verstappen has claimed that he held no concerns when he was informed that Red Bull would be implementing several innovations on its 2024 Formula 1 challenger.
Red Bull has dominated F1 since the return to ground effect aero in 2022, culminating in the team winning all but one race last term as it retained both championships with ease.
The Austrian outfit had been expected to make refinements to the title-winning RB19, but it emerged as a surprise when the team unveiled a multitude of radical modifications.
Red Bull has elected to construct a sidepod structure with a vertical slot inlet reminiscent of the ‘zeropod’ solution that rivals Mercedes conceived and then later opted to abandon.
Verstappen, who is chasing a fourth consecutive title in 2024, reiterated he has complete faith in the development choices Red Bull made as it bids to remain on top.
Asked if there was nervousness when he first sampled Red Bull’s RB20, Verstappen said: “I trust the team to be honest that they make the right decisions in terms of choosing the direction of the car. I saw of course how it was already a bit drawn at the end of last year. But honestly, I don’t care how the car looks like as long as it’s fast.
“And also when I saw it for the first time, fully built together, I was like, yeah, I mean, whatever shape it has, right? I mean, I go and sit in the car and once you drive out, you feel quite quickly, you know, if it feels quite normal or not.
“Unfortunately, you know, our filming day [at Silverstone] was only wet, so you don’t really know anything. But as soon as I jumped in here, it felt pretty normal.
“Yeah, it looks a bit different, but it’s the direction that the team chose. And I believe that that’s the best direction to go into if they say so.
“And from my side now, it’s all about just giving my feedback about [the] balance of the car, what I think can be improved. But that’s anyway an ongoing process with the car.”
Pressed on whether he believes the current concept has more potential than its predecessor, Verstappen replied: “Well the team believes that with how the car is at the moment that there is more potential to find I guess so that’s now up to us to unlock.”
Red Bull sustained an encouraging start to pre-season testing with Verstappen lapping over a second quicker than his nearest competitor on the opening day in Bahrain.
“I think overall it’s been a very good first day,” he reflected. “I couldn’t really wish for more. I was actually wishing for less laps!
“But no, I did a lot of laps. Everything went well. The balance was very nice. We tried quite a few things on the car. Also for me to understand moving forward.
“And completed the whole program without any problems. So for me that was a really good day.”
The Dutchman highlighted that it didn’t take him long to adapt and get up to speed with the revised RB20, citing that he didn’t receive any unforeseen surprises from the car.
“I think we also started just with some normal aero tests,” he added. “So you have a few laps to just settle in.
“And I mean, it’s not like you go out of the pits and you’re immediately on the limit. You just build into it as well.
“But everything felt quite normal, like how we were driving on the simulator as well.”
Despite other teams issuing that Red Bull remains the benchmark, Verstappen outlines that the entire field would have also made a clear step with their cars from last season.
“If it would have been worse, then we did a very bad job!” he remarked. “So I know for sure the car is better than last year’s car, but I think everyone on the grid has a better car than last year.”
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