Max Verstappen has said that he does not expect the flexi-wing technical directives that come into effect at this weekend’s Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix to make huge differences in teams’ performance.
The Dutchman arrives in Barcelona having been forced to settle for fourth place last time out at Monaco, in which Red Bull struggled to keep up with both McLaren and Ferrari.
This weekend’s race sees the introduction of the highly-anticipated TD108, from which teams will be forced to reduce the amount of flexibility from its front wings under heavy load.
Many have speculated whether it will benefit or indeed affect some teams’ performances, but Verstappen was quick to play down such notions.
“Not so much, no,” the Dutchman told media, including Motorsport Week. “It will change the balance of the car probably a little bit. For us not too much, but yeah, I don’t expect massive time gains or losses between the teams and so on.”
Flexi-wings ‘never really gave’ Red Bull performance edge
When asked if the new wings will alter Red Bull’s balance upon setup at future races, the reigning World Champion was quick to affirm it would not be an issue.
“For us not,” he said. “I can say that with quite a lot of confidence.I think those wings never really gave us a massive performance gain.
“I don’t know if we got it wrong or didn’t extract the most out of it. But even for the other teams, I’m sure it’s all manageable.
“If you have a good car, you have a good car. The front wing bends a bit less. I think you can tune it around it.”
On the topic of a potential win at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Verstappen was hesitant on making any predictions whether the RB21 could replicate the form it found on the Imola circuit two weeks ago.
“Imola was of course at the end very positive. But to try and replicate something like that, I don’t know,” he said.
“We’ll try to do our best, but I also don’t know if Ima was just a very strong showing from us or maybe a weaker showing from McLaren. It’s very hard to tell.”
READ MORE – Why the FIA chose Spanish GP to begin F1 flexi-wing clampdown
