Horner shares thanks after Red Bull turnaround: 'They are the silent heroes'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
Far from the on-track action, Sébastien Buemi and Jake Dennis have a very important role to play. So important, in fact, that Christian Horner publicly thanked them via Instagram on Saturday. In a post, the Red Bull Racing team boss wrote: "A special mention to Sebastien Buemi, Jake Dennis and everyone back in Milton Keynes for their work into the early hours on the simulator to get the car where we needed it to be today. We saw the results of that in Q3!"
What a turnaround it had been: during both free practice sessions on Friday, Red Bull seemed to be facing a lost weekend. Max Verstappen complained loudly and frequently about the set-up of his RB20, which could not compete with the Ferraris and the McLarens. But a day later in qualifying, when it really mattered, it was Verstappen again who led the timesheet. No doubt partly because Verstappen is Verstappen; someone who always gets something extra out of his car. On the other hand because Red Bull had worked hard in Milton Keynes to improve the set-up.
Night work for Red Bull's simulator driver
“From FP1 onward, Buemi will have done about 10-11 hours in the sim back at Milton Keynes," Horner told The Race about the Swiss driver's work. "The sim driver role is shared with Jake Dennis, but this time it was Buemi. But they are unsung heroes in the team working in the hot darkness of Milton Keynes and on days like today it plays a key and crucial role."
Perhaps there is a preconception that drivers in the sim try to run virtual laps as fast as possible, and then pass that set-up on to the race team at the track. That is a misconception, Horner argues. “A driver like Buemi or Dennis has the ability and experience to adapt their driving style to say, ‘Max will like this’ or ‘Checo won’t like that’. They are not just there trying to drive fast laps or tuning the car around themselves. They are working to give the drivers the best possible car for them."
Successfully, in other words. As an example, Horner mentioned Tosa and turn 12, which Red Bull had some problems with on Friday. Thanks to work at the factory, they managed to make the front end of the RB20 more balanced, which ultimately made those corners too fly well for Verstappen and Perez.
This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.
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