Red Bull knows the target: 'Then we'll be on the hunt'

17:00, 04 Apr

byNorberto Mujica

Red Bull Racing's RB20 was marred by inconsistency in terms of behaviour and balance, something the RB21 seems to emulate, due to its reported nervousness, something Red Bull's Chief Engineer, Paul Monahan, does not agree with.

One of the objectives behind Red Bull's 2025 car was to improve the driveability of its 2024 challenger by expanding the operative window, which could be argued, the Austrians failed to achieve, with Liam Lawson's woes which led to his very premature exit from the team after being unable to come to grips with the challenging RB21.

Max Verstappen drives the RB21 at Suzuka

Have Red Bull missed the mark? "Not necessarily," claims Monaghan speaking to media at the paddock in Suzuka.

"So how quick your car is, or how nervous your car is, perhaps you'll say that it's relative. I bet there are 18 other twitchy cars in this pit lane that all of us, myself probably the most, would find really quite difficult to drive.

"So, you're trying to get your car as balanced as you can make it. And we're, what, one, two tenths off the quickest car on the pitlane," adds the British engineer optimistically.

We've addressed those flaws quite significantly,

- Paul Monaghan, on Red Bull Racing's RB21

He then acknowledged the difficulties the team experienced last year, but is confident Red Bull have responded effectively to the issues that arose with the RB20.

Red Bull knows the target

"Now, last year's one had some flaws, and we've addressed those flaws quite significantly, quite well, without giving away much left on, in my opinion."

Before conceeding that, after all, the drivers, Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda, do find the RB21 difficult to drive: "Now we've just got to try and get a little bit more speed out of this one, try and improve its stability to the point that drivers find it easier to drive."

"If we can do that and put some lap time onto it, all well and good, we'll be in the hunt. We've got 22 races to go," concluded Monaghan signalling the target for Red Bull Racing if they are to compete for both titles this year.

Red Bull's chief advisor, Dr. Helmut Marko has admitted the RB21 is not a championship winning car yet, which doesn't put the team in prime position to retain Verstappen for the future, but doesn't believe the Dutchman will use the exit clause in his contract, should the team not fix the behaviour and perfomance issues that are currently afflicting the Austrians. Read more