Max Verstappen revealed a data discovery at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix that guided a Red Bull turnaround in 2024.
After winning seven of the first 10 races of the year, Red Bull developed itself against a wall of balance issues with its RB20, just as its rivals gathered winning pace.
That prompted a winless drought of 10 races for Verstappen and the team hit a low point at Monza with the Dutchman branding his car a “monster.”
That prompted the team to scrap its post-Monza development plans and go in a new direction, whereby Verstappen made a startling discovery.
“All plans for new parts that were to come after [Monza] could go in the bin,” Verstappen told De Telegraaf.
“The team basically started all over again after that. They couldn’t find the exact problem before that.”
Verstappen explained that the difficult weekend at Monza prompted a forensic look at data and examination of information he’d yet to have seen.
“I saw some graphs at one point when we were looking at the data,” the Dutchman said.
“I saw certain aerodynamic shifts in how we entered the corners, turned in and also in terms of ride heights.
“Different from the car from the year before. I said: ‘Hey, it’s very clear that this and this is the problem, isn’t it?’ And that was right, I heard. I had not seen those lines, those graphs, before.
“I said then that it was clear what we had to work on, because of course the engineers know exactly what had been changed compared to the car from last year.
“And at the beginning of the season, we were still winning our races convincingly, but I already felt that the balance of the car didn’t feel the way I wanted it to.
“But then we still had a big lead over other teams, who maybe hadn’t had a very good winter.”
Verstappen and Red Bull were able to push on and attain competitive results post-Monza, with victories in the Sao Paulo and Qatar GPs as well as the United States Sprint.
Red Bull had a tough time understanding RB20’s issues
What made Red Bull’s job harder before the revelation it uncovered in Monza was the fact it couldn’t understand why its upgrades weren’t translating into on-track performance.
Asked how Red Bull overcame its difficulties, Verstappen admitted: “We had a tough time.
“And the problem was that we didn’t really understand, I think, fully what was the reason behind it, because all the numbers that we saw were actually promising,” he added.
“So it’s just trying to find it, trying to understand what is going wrong, trying to improve that balance in the car. And that’s what we have done.
“And it took, of course, a few races to get on top of. And then, of course, you have to make changes.
“And in a season with a budget gap, it’s very tough sometimes also to calculate what you can do and what you cannot do.
“Some things you cannot change in the season. This is for next year.
“But I’m proud of how we have found solutions and how we have become, again, more competitive.”
All’s well that ends well as Verstappen claimed a fourth successive world title two rounds early in the Nevada desert at the Las Vegas GP.
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