Just a few weeks ago, a Red Bull victory seemed unlikely, but now Max Verstappen is back—what’s behind the sudden upswing?
Before the summer break, such a scenario seemed completely unlikely: On tracks such as Hungary, where Verstappen only finished ninth, even behind the Racing Bulls, Red Bull was still struggling with significant problems.
Since the end of the summer break, however, the team from Milton Keynes has been much stronger, mainly thanks to a new underbody and a slightly changed philosophy, as Helmut Marko explained. And that seems to be the decisive game changer for Red Bull.
Red Bull has now gotten to know the RB21
“We don’t have to try out so many things on the car anymore. The fact that we no longer have to make radical changes during a race weekend makes it much more pleasant,” said Verstappen in Baku. Until now, Red Bull has often been far behind on Fridays and has had to fight its way to the top over the course of the weekend. When asked by Motorsport.com whether Red Bull is now finding the RB21’s working window more often, however small it may be, he replied: “Yes. And that’s because of all the things we’ve learned about this car.”
Even though Verstappen wants to wait until the next race in Singapore and emphasizes that it is too early to talk about a return to the title fight, it is undeniable that Red Bull has made significant progress in recent weeks.
Successes give the team more confidence
This is also reflected in the paddock: the mood at Red Bull is noticeably better than it was at the beginning of the year, for example after the disastrous Bahrain Grand Prix, when there was even a crisis meeting. “We’ve experienced many incredible moments together in recent years,” recalls Verstappen.
“When you go through a difficult phase, it’s obviously not pleasant for anyone in the team. When you see that things are going well again, it makes these victories very special, precisely because we went through the bad times together. The atmosphere is very good now, and that’s also important.”
The Dutchman knows how important the mental component is: “It gives people a little more confidence, and sometimes that confidence is very important. They see the light at the end of the tunnel again and know that what they are working on is actually okay.”
This also applies to technical director Pierre Wache, who was under pressure. When it was jokingly remarked during Verstappen’s media event in the Netherlands that the Frenchman could now smoke one less cigarette per weekend thanks to the improved performance, Verstappen laughed: “And maybe he’ll walk around the paddock less now!”
New team boss with the right approach
However, Verstappen also attributes a large part of the credit to the new team principal Laurent Mekies, who improves the mood with small gestures, such as bringing two key figures from the previously criticized technical department onto the podium: Paul Monaghan in Baku and technical director Wache in Monza.
When asked what role he himself had played, Verstappen laughed: “Well, just driving a few laps.“ In fact, however, close communication between the driver, team boss, and technical department is also crucial. The new team boss, Verstappen reveals, asks ”the right questions.“
”We had a lot of discussions about how we could improve things and how we could test certain elements,“ he adds. ”In the end, it turned out that we handled it pretty well.” And that’s nothing new at Red Bull.
Verstappen: “Always have to look for solutions”
Even before Verstappen won his first world championship title, Red Bull often had a difficult start to the season, but was able to develop the car and still clinch victories towards the end of the year. “Yes, that’s true, but it was still a completely different situation,” says the Dutchman.
“Back then, it was also related to aerodynamics and upgrades, but with the budget cap, it’s a bit different now.” The four-time world champion even admits that at times he wondered whether Red Bull would be able to turn the season around. “In the end, you always go through certain difficult moments.”
“And of course, sometimes you think, ‘Is this going to work out, can we still turn it around?’ But on the other hand, there’s no point in thinking like that all the time,” Verstappen knows. “You always have to look for solutions, talk to the people in the team and exchange ideas in a positive way. That’s what it’s all about in the end, and that’s exactly what we did.”
