Waché explains why no one listened to Verstappen about Red Bull's problems
Max Verstappen did not always feel heard in 2024 when he complained about the balance of his car. Only halfway through the season did Red Bull Racing really address those problems. Pierre Waché explains to Motorsport.com why action was not taken immediately after Verstappen's statements.
"I think we did see it [the balance problems], just the car was fast and so we didn't want to change it dramatically. When we went back to Europe and were challenged more by McLaren, it became more and more clear that this was one of our biggest problems to go faster," states Red Bull Racing's technical director.
Verstappen's comments were not heard
The team received indications early in the season that the car was not fast enough. Verstappen was not entirely happy with the balance of his car in the first few races, even though he won four of the first five Grands Prix. It was not until Miami and Imola that the real problems began to surface, after which Verstappen raised these points even more.
It was then that Verstappen revealed that he did not feel heard within the team. Indeed, Verstappen had been shouting internally for months that the balance was causing problems, but nobody seemed to really do anything about it because the car was still fast. This cost Red Bull dearly for the rest of the season, finishing third in the constructors' standings, while Verstappen just managed to hold on and clinch the world drivers' title.
After the Hungarian Grand Prix, the engineering team met, at Verstappen's request. Something had to change. Since that meeting, things improved, but the 'window' in which the car was well-balanced remained very narrow. It made it vary from weekend to weekend how good Red Bull was. In 2025, that will have to improve if Verstappen wants to compete for the world title again, Jos Verstappen recently stressed in a critical interview.
This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy
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Maybe the car wasn't that fast, just that the other cars were slower and then eventually they caught up with better solutions.
That is the difference between a good driver and a great driver. Even when he is unhappy with the car a great driver is still able to adapt his driving to wring great performance from the ill handling car and win races. A good (or average) driver, will complain that the car 'does not suit his driving style' as an excuse why they are slow in it.
still does not excuse ignoring both your drivers' feedback on how the car's behaviour has exacerbated from weekend to weekend over such a prolonged period. the driver is always the first point of reference. "just the car was fast and so we didn't want to change it dramatically" was not a justifiable excuse for not investigating the rb20's problems far sooner.
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