Red Bull Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner has given credit to former driver Alex Albon for his part in the team’s Monaco Grand Prix victory last time out.
Max Verstappen scored his maiden Monaco win and Red Bull’s first since 2018 as he led from start to finish, after polesitter Charles Leclerc failed to start the race following a crash in qualifying, which damaged his Ferrari.
However Verstappen wasn’t overly happy with his RB16B during Thursday’s practice sessions, which led to a raft of set-up changes overnight to dial his car in. Verstappen looked set to take pole away from Leclerc on Saturday, but a red flag scuppered his effort, forcing him to back off in the final sector.
Horner credits Albon – who has remained with the team in a reserve and development role after he was dropped for this season – for those set-up changes as the Anglo-Thai driver was doing simulator work back at Milton Keynes.
“We were not in great shape on Thursday in Monaco and Max was not particularly happy with the car but the work behind the scenes, the work Alex [Albon] has been putting in on the sim, all helped to turn it around for Saturday,” Horner said in his column.
“We made some good set-up changes, got Max and Checo a lot happier with the car and Max was obviously gutted to miss out on pole with the red flag.
“We all went into Saturday evening a little frustrated because we all knew how difficult it would be to overtake, but Ferrari’s misfortune turned into our good fortune and it was important for us to convert the opportunity.”
godlameroso wrote: ↑04 Jun 2021, 13:05Maybe they introduce the next one either France or Austria 1. Because the RBR chassis is strong they can turn down the engine during races and be competitive.
Other teams perhaps take more life out of the engine to have they pace they do.
That’s what I’m thinking too. Honda have been running with a detuned engine since the Bahrain race.
Over the radio he was referring to the new (in fp2) lack of consistent front tire temperature -> grip.godlameroso wrote: ↑04 Jun 2021, 20:24I wonder what Max meant when he said their setup changes went backwards in FP2.
Or the RB wing is just a lower DF spec and therefore making it being pushed down less? In Barcelona they ran a pretty high DF package iirc. Now they ran a wing comparable to the Mercedes it flexes nearly identical to that Mercedes wing.