Verstappen had problems with RB18 in season start
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen convincingly took his second world title in 2022, but he did not have that form all year. In the early stages of the season, Red Bull Racing was still clearly searching for the car's optimal performance, with winning the world championship briefly out of sight.
Because of the new regulations, all Formula 1 teams were curious about their cars at the start of the season. Red Bull found out that Verstappen and Sergio Perez struggled to feel comfortable in the car.
"I couldn’t really rely on that because it was always a bit unknown when it would happen in the corner," Verstappen explained to The Race. "So going into a qualifying lap, in the first few races, was always a bit of a guessing game for me in Q1, Q2, Q3. ‘Am I going to lock? Am I going to understeer?"
Verstappen is grateful to Red Bull
Whereas the Mexican felt at home in his RB18 after a few races, this was not the case for Verstappen. Behind the scenes, Red Bull therefore decided to work hard to find a solution, which included reducing weight. Verstappen then immediately noticed the difference.
"As soon as we got rid of most of the weight, the car just became a lot more agile, how racing cars should be. And that helped me a lot," Verstappen recalls. It ended up giving the two-time world champion excellent statistics in 2022.