Red Bull is cautious over the chances it could encounter a repeat of the struggles that the team endured in Monaco at this weekend’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.
Both Ferrari and McLaren have closed the gap to Red Bull over recent times, but Max Verstappen had still been able to claim second place in Miami and win at Imola.
However, the Austrian squad was not in the mix in Monaco, with Verstappen lamenting his RB20 being unable to absorb the bumps and kerbs as its rivals’ cars could.
The Dutchman compared Red Bull’s woes to Singapore last term – the one race it failed to win in 2023 – as evidence that the side doesn’t have a grasp on the problem.
Verstappen suspects the return to conventional tracks will help Red Bull, but the reigning champion has admitted there will be more venues that expose its weakness.
Asked whether he anticipated more issues in the coming races, Verstappen answered: “I mean Spain has no bumps so that’s probably better for us.
“But some tracks with bumps where you have to ride kerbs, there are definitely a few tracks not ideal for us but also probably some races suit our car more.
We know where we have to work on. There’s one clear direction where we are still lacking quite a bit of performance and if we can fix that our car can be better on every single track.”
Red Bull’s vulnerabilities could be on show once more as F1 travels to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, another track where having a compliant car is essential to lap time.
But Horner has been reticent on whether Red Bull could be engaged in damage limitation mode in Montreal as the track has been resurfaced over the last 12 months.
“I mean, it’s a track that we’ve performed well at previously,” Horner previewed. “They’ve resurfaced the whole circuit again, so let’s see.
“But, you know, Ferrari, McLaren, they’re quick. It was always going to happen that there was going to be convergence.
“Of course, this has been a tough weekend, but we’re still leading both championships and obviously we’ll look to take the lessons out of this weekend and apply to the next one.”
Pressed on how he assessed Red Bull’s Canada chances based on his previous comments, Horner added: “It’s Monaco, of course, but it’s got that high speed as well.
“It’s very much traction. Historically, it was there, but with the new surface, you don’t know what the balance is going to swing to.”
