Red Bull admits it is still struggling with the new car ahead of the third race weekend in Japan. During the first free practice sessions, the team still seemed to be searching for the right balance. This was also reflected in the results: both Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar could not match the lap times of the other top teams. Team principal Laurent Mekies explained that Red Bull is still very much learning with the RB22 and is focusing on fixing the biggest flaws at this stage.
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“We are far off,” said an honest Mekies to the media in Suzuka, “and we are missing quite a bit of pace. You can also hear that in the reactions of our drivers.” A realistic Max Verstappen stated after the second free practice, in which he was only good for the tenth fastest time, that finding solutions to the current problems will not happen overnight. “We haven’t managed to give them a car they can push with so far,” the team principal admitted. “For that, we first need to solve a number of fundamental things. But that’s part of it at this stage of the season,” he emphasized.
“We need to understand the core of these flaws as quickly as possible and take the necessary steps,” Mekies explained. “Of course, today was a frustrating day; our drivers couldn’t go to the limit. But we are confident. It’s not the first time we’ve struggled and had to face our shortcomings. That has happened more often in the past. We will resolve this soon and increase the pace further.” According to Max Verstappen, his RB22 is struggling most with grip and the faster corners. Additionally, Red Bull has not yet succeeded in finding the right balance.
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New upgrades are working
“There are certain aspects of the car that we are not yet utilizing properly or perhaps do not fully understand,” Mekies explained. “The goal is to figure that out in the coming hours, days, and probably even weeks. Only then will we return to the desired level.” What does that mean for the rest of the weekend in Japan? “When you talk to Verstappen and Hadjar, it quickly becomes clear that they cannot push,” Mekies repeated. “That simply costs a lot of lap time, as we saw last year. It’s hard to say to what extent we can solve that in one day.”
Chief engineer Paul Monaghan later explained that Red Bull brought a number of important upgrades to Suzuka. These seem to be working and are therefore not the cause of the current lack of competitiveness. “You can see from our speed that the car is not performing to our standards,” he added. “We have identified a number of problems and now know that we specifically need to work on balance and grip. The challenge is to understand those shortcomings sufficiently to be able to make adjustments. The upgrades we brought are quite significant,” he continued. “They are working properly, but now we need to focus on other matters.”
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