Red Bull boss Christian Horner has disclosed that the balance issues the team has endured with its 2024 Formula 1 were noticed during its dominant run last season.
The team that triumphed in all but one race in 2023 and commenced this campaign in fine fettle have now gone winless during the last six rounds of the 2024 season.
The main crux of the problem is a lack of balance between the front and rear of its RB20, which Horner said was a limitation that was exposed at Monza last weekend.
“I think on other [circuits] perhaps running more downforce hides some of the balance issues we have,” Horner told media including Motorsport Week.
“You can see that we have a disconnection in balance that just isn’t working, and as soon as you end up in that situation, you’re harder on tyres, you end up compensating, you move the balance around, you secure one problem and create another, so you just end up in a vicious circle.”
Max Verstappen believes Red Bull has turned its car into a “monster,” bemused that his squad can go from opening 2024 with three 1-2s in four races and now languishing behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.
However, Horner thinks that not only did the RB20 show signs of balance limitations at the start of 2024, but data shows that last autumn’s United States Grand Prix in Austin showed signs of trouble.
“I think it’s been there for some time, I think actually really going through the data there were issues there at the beginning of the year in the characteristics, others have obviously made a step and as we’ve pushed the package harder it’s exposed the issue,” Horner said.
“Even if you go back in the data there were a few races last year where we started to see this, in Austin, and so on.
“It’s a characteristic we know we have to address, and it’s full focus at the factory to do that.”
As the team has pushed the envelope to improve upon the dominant RB19, it has found itself in a tough situation with the RB20 whereby neither the Constructors’ nor the Drivers’ titles are guaranteed this year.
Red Bull has a slender eight-point margin over McLaren in the Constructors’ standings and Verstappen leads Lando Norris by 62 with just eight races to go.
If Red Bull doesn’t figure out a solution to its problems, both titles could slip from its grasp.
“With the pace we had [at Monza]… both championships absolutely will be under pressure, for sure, we have to turn the situation around very quickly,” he added.
“I think this circuit has exposed the deficiencies we have in the car versus last year, and I think that we have a very clear issue which has been highlighted this weekend, we know we have to get on top of and address, otherwise we put ourselves under massive pressure.”
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