This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
Verstappen was driving the nuts off the car today, despite the bad setup. I expected him to start from pitlane, after reading his comments post Quali. Ferrari is clearly the faster and lighter car. They were showing the helicopter/drone shots at T10 hairpain, and it was plainly evident that the front tyres on Redbull had no grip to slow down the car or keep a tight line, while the Mercs/Ferraris/McLarens were far more comfortable at T10. Perhaps the 5-6kg (alleged) overweight doesn't help either. Hadjar clearly showing that he is exactly the 'quintessential Redbull 2nd seat driver' , who can't match the lead driver , no matter who felt comfortable with the setup while going into parc ferme. Race awareness / car placement / bravery with brakes etc still to be fine tuned by Hadjar.
Interesting, I wouldn't have put the car as fighting at the top, there's Mercedes who will always be there, expecting Ferrari to be extremely strong, MCL is difficult to say.
Edit (the complete quote): So we’ll have something to fight at the front. So, there’s only positives. But we also know that when we go back to tracks like Barcelona, we’ll struggle a bit more with what we’ve understood, so we’ll need to try to anticipate that.”
It's a pointless season now anyway. RB are so far back in the points. Mercedes will wrap things up, stop updating, and then the other teams will get some consolation wins.
The goal is starting well in 2027 and making compromises this year to achieve that.
It's a pointless season now anyway. RB are so far back in the points. Mercedes will wrap things up, stop updating, and then the other teams will get some consolation wins.
The goal is starting well in 2027 and making compromises this year to achieve that.
Gap could have been bigger is not for Jeddah and Bahrain cancellation.
If you actually read the quote, Hadjar never said anything even remotely like they will be competitive in Monaco.
I honestly don't think even Mercedes can fight Ferrari around Monaco this season. That car is perfect for that track.
Seems like Ferrari should be the favorites, on paper. But I wouldn't bet a penny on them yet, largely due to the drivers. Leclercs switched on his depressed mode and Hamilton has been chronical underperformer there for many years. Would be surprised not to see tiny little agile Mclaren battling for the first row at very least and they have two drivers that can deliver a lap in Q3. And Mercedes should sill be there as Monaco naturally brings everyone closer. Monaco cannot come soon enough, cant wait to see proper old school racing rather than clipping/battery charging yo-yoing farce, for once.
On race pace in Canada Max looked the worst relative to Isack we’ve seen all year. And I’ve a sneaking suspicion it was not because Hadjar was suddenly better, but rather Max being worse due to his setup he was unhappy with, which hasn’t been touched under parc-ferme post-qualifying, and tires not working/switching on properly. Complete lack of tire deg being another factor why Hajar pace wasnt looking too bad, making huge Max advantage basically nullified.
I smell at least 1 victory this year, the engine is a success, now they need to improve the chassis…
A lot depends on their ADUO status imho. Ferrari is betting a lot on a huge engine upgrade jumping them all the way to the front. If RBPT doesn't get one then it might be difficult. They'll be competitive after the Austria weight reduction and upgrade but if Ferrari are able to at the minimum match them on engine performance then it would take some luck to win races. If they get an ADUO upgrade I think they'll not only win races but end the season with the fastest car.
