Red Bull praises Verstappen: 'He filters out problems with his talent'

Red Bull praises Verstappen for special talent

The Italian Grand Prix in Monza was a clear low point in Red Bull's 2024 season. However, Waché saw one silver lining of the disappointing weekend, where Max Verstappen finished sixth, 37 seconds behind race winner Charles Leclerc. T balance problems on the RB20 became more apparent than ever at the blisteringly fast Italian circuit.

With all downforce stripped away for the high-speed circuit, the balance played a pivotal role in determining both lap times and driver confidence. "That is especially true for a driver like we have with Max. He can filter out a lot of the balance issues with his talent," Red Bull's technical chief said in a conversation with Motorsport.com.

"On a low-downforce circuit, it is much less possible to filter out the balance problems, but in some ways, that weekend in Monza was very positive for us. There the problems we had were highlighted enormously," he added. Max Verstappen remarked after the Monza race that all plans could be discarded, but Pierre Waché clarified that the team had already been addressing those balance issues well before that weekend.

A Turnaround for Red Bull in Austin

At the US Grand Prix in Austin, Red Bull Racing introduced a significant update package, including a new floor. According to Pierre Waché, this addressed several correlation issues and notably improved the car's balance. While the updates were delivered as expected, they weren't enough to return Red Bull to consistent race-winning form. However, it marked a crucial step forward, giving the team a foundation to build on and resolving several key issues.

This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon

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