This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
Yuki is still on his first weekend. I wouldnt make too much judgement as some are doing. He was never going to push right up on the edge of this car. He doesnt know the car ultimately.
Max: "I saw my name on the boards at the top. I knew Oscar Piastri was coming, but I was already very happy with this", Verstappen reflected on qualifying on Saturday. The Australian turned out to be slower at the finish, just like his McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
So Verstappen will start at the front again on Sunday for the first time since June last year. "Very unexpected", he admitted. "There was a lot of joy when I crossed the finish line. I have had many great pole positions. But if you look at our start of the season and also see how it went so far this weekend, then this is very special."
Suzuka is considered a drivers' circuit and is therefore popular among the drivers. "If I can enjoy a track, it is always more fun. It was great to drive this qualifying", Verstappen agreed. "You really have to go for it here, especially in that first sector. I wondered a few times whether I would stay on the track during that last lap." Problems masked with little fuel
The Red Bull is still a difficult car to drive. Also for Verstappen. "It is currently very difficult for us to get the balance right. That remains problematic through the corners", Verstappen explained. The Red Bull RB21 remains fickle. Sometimes the car slides a bit on the front wheels, then the rear breaks out again.
"By continuing to improve and experiment throughout the weekend, we eventually found a balance that was at least driveable for me. I was able to push a bit more. With little fuel in the car and over one lap, you can mask the problems quite nicely", Verstappen said. "But it is not that everything is suddenly solved by this pole."
"We clearly still have problems, which are also not easy to solve. We are working hard on that." Those problems also have an impact on the confidence that Verstappen has in his Red Bull. "I just don't go into a qualifying lap like that very comfortably and with confidence." Max Verstappen in the special Honda colours at Suzuka.
With a time on the boards in the final part of qualifying, Verstappen decided to go for it in his last attempt. "That doesn't always work, but it does now. In several combinations of corners I really hoped the car would hold up, and luckily that turned out to be the case. This was great, also good for the team that it worked out."
Verstappen's pole position is a nice boost, but on Sunday he still has 53 laps to go on the gruelling Suzuka, a circuit that is also a challenge for the tyres. That remains the strong point of the McLarens, who start just behind Verstappen. The preparation was also severely disrupted by a series of red flags.
"We did what we could with our race pace, but we also have to look at the weather. Rain is forecast", Verstappen said looking ahead to the race. "We just have to drive the perfect race. Even then I don't know how fast we'll be." That the McLarens will join the battle is a given for Verstappen. "It will be difficult to keep them behind me. Not that I will easily accept it if they turn out to be faster, we will enter the battle. But ultimately you also have to look at the long term. The season is still long. And you also have to score points. I will start ahead of them at least once."
Yuki is still on his first weekend. I wouldnt make too much judgement as some are doing. He was never going to push right up on the edge of this car. He doesnt know the car ultimately.
So much for difficult car. Myth busted. The car only needed a quick #2 with a few years experience.
I don't think many here are judging him harshly. But you don't do him any favours with comments like that after one practice.
My comment still stands. The car is not any different or worse than others on the grid.
Ask anyone following Mercedes these past 4 years.
You will always need to have 2 good drivers in a team.
RB21 is not difficult as some here make it out to be. The window of operation in qualifying on low fuel is going to require precision, confidence and experience.
Let's not judge Yuki for one compromised Q2 session at a track like Suzuka. He clearly could have done better.
There are many more races where I hope you quote my quote again and ask the same thing. But the car is not undrivable. Look across to Sainz in the Williams for perspective.
Translated by DeepL from the Dutch Telegraaf behind a paywall.
SUZUKA - The primal scream over the radio spoke volumes. It had to come from far away. But after the initial emotion, Max Verstappen was above all realistic in Suzuka. "The problems are not solved all at once and the car is still very difficult to drive."
He surprised everyone and everything in Japan with his fourth pole position in a row in Suzuka. And himself too. Max Verstappen had not thought in advance that he would be able to do more than, say, fifth on the starting grid for the Japanese Grand Prix.
However, things turned out differently. The reigning world champion drove a great lap himself, above all. But McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, for example, lost a lot of time in the first sector and was ultimately 'only' 44 thousandths of a second slower than Verstappen.
It shows that McLaren - Lando Norris put his car just behind Verstappen in second place - clearly has the upper hand in terms of pure speed. But also that the Dutchman squeezes much more out of his fickle car than anyone else. And that the competition makes more mistakes, something that has also been the case during the first two race weekends of this Formula 1 season.
"I am also dependent on what the others do", Verstappen realises. "But yes, those others do indeed make more mistakes than I do. I am not surprised by that. If I can be close enough, I know that I will always make the difference. Only we are not close enough at the moment. Although it turned out that way today."
So there is work to be done, nothing changes. Verstappen does not let himself be deterred after a wonderful and unexpected pole position. "We are first, but the problems have not been solved yet", he says in the paddock in Suzuka. "The car is still very difficult to drive. Even when I see the on-board images, I see enough improvement."
During the qualifying session, Red Bull adjusted Verstappen's car a little where possible. That ensured that he got a bit more grip at the front, he explained. "But the whole weekend, the whole season, it's been difficult to have a normal and consistent balance in the car. I'm very clear about how I think the car should be. In 2022 and 2023 it was better to drive. After that we lost our way a bit. It's not up to the drivers to set up the car. We would have studied that. We have to wait and see what the engineers come up with. It's up to them. We have to take steps. Do I have confidence in that? That's not what matters to me, it just has to happen. This weekend it actually didn't go at all. We had the set-up a bit better now, but in terms of driving feel it's still very difficult to get the maximum out of it. To be first then is unbelievable." Max Verstappen is flanked by McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
"Liam feels a bit more comfortable in the Racing Bull. As I said, the problem is not the driver but the car. The team decides who they put in it. I think it's all fine, but we have to keep the focus on the problem and that is the car." Rain is expected in Suzuka on Sunday. Especially in the morning, but also around noon and possibly around the start of the race. Such conditions may offer Red Bull and especially Verstappen a better starting position. He himself does not think so immediately. "I think it will be difficult anyway. So far we have not been really strong in the races under normal conditions. And when it rained in Australia we also did not go fast enough on the intermediates. It is not that everything has suddenly been solved in a magical way because of this pole position."
Yuki is still on his first weekend. I wouldnt make too much judgement as some are doing. He was never going to push right up on the edge of this car. He doesnt know the car ultimately.
The RB21 always had the potential for front row, but it's in the eye of a needle.
You are arguing with yourself.
Seems you are looking for someone to argue with or take shots at. I will just ignore your efforts to incite trouble and stick to the topic as usual which is the redbull F1 team.
For us spectators, it is a blessing in disguise that the RedBull car is a handful. It goes to show what a legend Max is. Another chapter in his legacy, which will be remembered years after his departure.
The RB21 always had the potential for front row, but it's in the eye of a needle.
You are arguing with yourself.
Seems you are looking for someone to argue with or take shots at. I will just ignore your efforts to incite trouble and stick to the topic as usual which is the redbull F1 team.
Not at all, I just try to understand where you are coming from when the comments are contradictory. About the RB team, of course.
I told you this before if the car was within 0,2s of Mclaren but still slower Max would win the WDC by some margin (looking at race pace). But if we are 0.5-0.6 s slower he has no chance, they have to improve on tyre wear and balance. Some extra tenths in the next races would really help. Today was amazing really, the best qualy by Max since Monaco 2023. Tomorrow podium should be the target. But a very good day.
RB have missed a beat with the rear flexiwing. McLaren can basically get similar downforce as the spec Yuki ran, with similar drag as the spec Max ran (without DRS) in one wing.
Don't forget that others won't stand still, McLaren have been the best in development for a while, Ferrari will bring a new floor in Bahrein which is rumored to unlock some potential (ok they are always pumped but still), so you will need a bigger leap than what others (McLaren specially) will do, and recent Red Bull upgrade history sucks.
