Red Bull identifies key weakness of the RB22
Originally published by Motorsportweek
Red Bull has confirmed it has identified a key weakness in the RB22 following its pace transformation at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
The opening three races were far from ideal for Red Bull, as it grappled with a car that looked to be a step back compared to previous seasons.
The car lacks overall pace, and at times has suffered from poor reliability, including a retirement for Max Verstappen in China and a qualifying crash in Australia caused by a locked rear axle.
But Miami marked a turnaround, as the four time world champion placed the car on the front row of the grid, though a first corner spin took him out of contention.
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Red Bull Racing CEO and Team Principal Laurent Mekies revealed how the team turned around a difficult situation, highlighting a deepdive after a difficult Japanese GP.
“After Suzuka on Sunday night, we said to eachother, look, regardless of our performance deficit overall in terms of development, compared to where we were late last year, regardless of that, we do not give, at the moment, a consistent car to our drivers, a car they can push with confidence, lap to lap, corner to corner,” he said to media, including Motorsport Week.
“That was most of the work that has been done in this five weeks’ break, in addition to the normal development.
“So yes, there is a split between the two, whatever the number, whatever the split is. But of course, it was tangible. It is lap time.”
Red Bull identify key weakness
Mekies identified one key area that has been a complaint for both Verstappen and teammate Isack Hadjar: steering.
“We knew we were losing a serious amount of lap time with that lack of confidence drivers would have in the car.
“Steering was an aspect. We had quite a few other aspects as well, and we still have a few to sort out.”
Red Bull is on a journey to return to the front of the grid. If Miami is anything to go by, it has already taken massive strides towards this goal.