Max Verstappen criticizes the new regulations and is “not enjoying himself” anymore: It is up to Red Bull to keep the world champion in Formula 1 with a car capable of winning.
Is Red Bull worried about its biggest draw? After Max Verstappen’s clear criticism that Formula 1 is “no fun” anymore under the new regulations, there seems to be only one option left for the Bulls to keep the four-time world champion: a car capable of winning.
“It’s not my goal to make him happy,” says technical director Pierre Wache when asked what the team can do to make Verstappen happier despite the current situation. But: “We can make him happy by winning races.”
“My job and the job of the team at my level is to make sure we give him the tools to fight at the top. The regulations themselves and how the car is designed—in other words, how the car feels as a result of these regulations—are beyond our control.“
”That’s a discussion with the FIA,“ Wache emphasizes. ”We can participate in that, but the main purpose and focus is to make the car better.” According to Wache, it is therefore up to the FIA and not Red Bull to convince Verstappen of the benefits of energy management and the new cars.
Max Verstappen needs a car that can win
What Red Bull can control, however, is the car itself: a winning car in the hands of Verstappen could drown out all the Dutchman’s concerns. But where the RB22 really stands remains unclear, as all teams are keeping their true pace a secret so far.
The test drives resemble a tactical game between the teams: Mercedes has good reasons to hide its own potential due to the discussion about its power unit and claims that Red Bull’s new power unit is the leader in sustainable energy use.
The Mercedes customer teams, led by McLaren, take a similar view but believe their power unit could be brought up to a comparable level. Red Bull denies having the most effective power unit, while Verstappen scoffs at Mercedes’ claim that the compression ratio trick only adds one or two horsepower.
Red Bull believes: “We are behind”
“It’s hard to say,” Wache ponders the current balance of power. “We are certainly not the benchmark. Clearly, the top teams, namely Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren, are ahead of us. According to our analysis, we are behind. But it’s difficult to say exactly where we stand because the teams’ schedules, fuel quantities, and power demands are hardly comparable.”
“At the moment, we see ourselves as the fourth fastest package, but that could be wrong,” adds the technical director, who apparently doesn’t look at the timesheets. “We don’t spend too much time worrying about that, but focus on improving the car.” And that’s mainly to convince Verstappen after all…