Red Bull’s struggles at the Italian Grand Prix have brought underlying car performance issues to light. With motorsport advisor Dr. Helmut Marko revealing the RB20’s current challenges. Despite a promising start to the weekend at Monza, Red Bull’s pace faded as the race progressed, leading to a disappointing outcome that didn’t surprise Marko.
In an interview with De Telegraaf, Marko addressed Red Bull’s lackluster showing, acknowledging that the team had anticipated such difficulties. “Disappointing result? No, no. We already expected things to go like this,” he said. Marko went on to congratulate Ferrari for their victory and thanked McLaren for their sportsmanship, noting, “Qualitatively and mentally, Max is still the best driver on the grid.”
Marko pinpointed the RB20’s balance issues as the main culprit behind the team’s struggles. He described how car suffers from both understeer in some corners and oversteer in others, creating a challenging driving environment. “Ours was one of the slowest cars on the straights. We need to find a balance and evaluate when we have taken the wrong direction,” Marko explained. “In the race, we could not keep up with the leaders in strategy or pace.”
Marko highlighted how the car’s unpredictability affected Max Verstappen’s performance, preventing him from maximizing his driving skills. “When Max pushed deeper, he suffered more graining problems,” Marko noted. “He couldn’t use his incredible ability to drive to the limit because the car didn’t allow him. It reacted unpredictably, with oversteer at times, understeer at others, and even unstable brakes in corners.”
Marko attributed some of these issues to recent updates that disrupted the car’s balance, making it difficult for the team to maintain their usual speed. “At a certain point, with the updates, we lost the balance in the car, and now we can no longer go as fast as before,” Marko told Sky Germany. “Here, it was just a matter of trying to control the problem.”
As Red Bull continues to grapple with these challenges, the focus will be on regaining control of the car’s performance in order to ensure it can consistently compete at the front of the grid. Consequently, the team’s ability to resolve these handling issues will be crucial as the season progresses.
