Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan has credited Max Verstappen‘s inputs “in and out of the car” for the team’s resurgent run recently in Formula 1.
Coming into the summer break it was apparent that the Milton Keynes-based squad had lost a competitive edge compared to pacesetters McLaren.
Having relinquished the Constructors’ Championship to the Woking-based squad last season, the RB21, this year, was miles off the pace of the MCL39.
As a result, Verstappen trailed Oscar Piastri by a mammoth 104 points after the Dutch Grand Prix.
That said, since Monza onwards, the team have seemingly got its package right with upgrades, allowing Verstappen to take three wins in five races.
“This year’s challenged him in a different way, I think, because we’ve not presented him with a car that was necessarily quick enough at all the events,” Monaghan told media including Motorsport Week.
Verstappen’s stellar run with the RB21 now sees him trail Lando Norris by just 36 points in the standings going into the last four races of the season.
Monaghan insisted that Verstappen had a big role to play in this recent uptick in form – and it was not just his driving behind the wheel of the RB21.
“He was always of the view that the team is in it, therefore he’s in it, and he will help and contribute as much as he can to help pull us out of it,” he added.
“So, he’s an extraordinary driver, and that is in and out of the car.
“He’s one of those mercurial ones that can help pull the team together, not the sole part of it, he is a very big part of it, and it’s just nice that we’ve got him.”
Red Bull details RB21 changes that upgraded its pace
Verstappen’s final stint, on Soft tyres, at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, last weekend, was comparable to the front runners, including race winner Norris.
With two Sprint Races and four Grands Prix remaining, the 28-year-old has brought himself back firmly into contention to secure a fifth successive Drivers’ title.
Monaghan explained that this upturn in pace, and the team bridging the gap to its rivals, is not about just a few upgrades, but a concise process that the team had been working on from the very start of the season that has finally come good.
“I think there are many things that come together,” he asserted.
“A lot of work went in, even from the very early races of this season, to try and give ourselves a better car.
“We thought we’d identified what was wrong, and it took us a couple of steps to really get to that, and not just take a load of downforce out of the car.
“So the combination of things as we arrived towards Monza was that the car has been a lot better.
“I wouldn’t have said it’s one thing in isolation. It’s not one or two set-up items. It’s not necessarily some bodywork geometries.
“Many things happened in the right order. We might be disappointed with the timing of them. That’s life.”
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