dialtone wrote: ↑17 Sep 2023, 20:07
AR3-GP wrote:dialtone wrote: ↑17 Sep 2023, 19:58
Right, it still happened though. My point is just that blaming the bottoming on a bumpy track when it's clearly less bumpy than Baku makes no sense. This track was very smooth, Mercedes isn't a car that likes bumps and yet there they are.
If bumpy tracks are bad then COTA will be a massacre for RedBull, might want to consider 19" wheels.
COTA won't be bad because of all of the high speed corners. RB's difficulty is low speed and bumps/kerbs.
That's fine but nothing to do with what Max was complaining about in quali. He said he couldn't brake hard after a long straight because he would bottom and the fronts would unload, and then was sliding around the slow stuff.
If he can't brake hard due to bumps ofter a long straight he's done for in COTA. But that wasn't the issue so he's not done in COTA nor Japan. Bumps weren't the issue like they weren't an issue in Baku, or Bahrain for what it's worth, main straight there has become super bumpy.
Anyway...
The issue is that they softened the car in an attempt to manage bumps a bit better, and this means the car has more dive under braking hence the bottoming under braking after the lowered the car. This is especially exacerbated when Verstappen wanted to brake very hard on 1 lap.
This won't be necessary in COTA. You win more having a stiff platform in the highspeed corners than what you gain being soft for the 1 or 2 low speed corners.
The current RB is designed to be run as stiff and low as possible. This is not compatible with the demands of Singapore.
A lion must kill its prey.