Max Verstappen’s progress from a pitlane start to the podium in the Brazil Grand Prix was remarkable, all the more so since Verstappen had been complaining about his car’s poor performance all weekend – even on his way to fourth in the sprint race.
Changes to the car the team made in response to those complaints actually made the car slower, resulting in Verstappen being failing to progress from the first segment of qualifying, along with team-mate Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull’s first double elimination since the 2006 Japanese GP.
After this, Red Bull made further set-up changes to Verstappen’s car, along with fitting a new PU, effectively doing so “blind” because it could not be sure of the outcome – and making changes in parc ferme conditions meant Verstappen would start from the pitlane.
Team principal Laurent Mekies insisted that such a buccaneering approach – and not being satisfied with results which were merely adequate – were fundamental to the team’s competitive DNA.
“First, credit to Max for the sensational drive,” said Mekies.
“He won last year here from P16 in the wet. I think we would probably agree that it was as sensational as last year to bring it to P3 from the pit lane in a dry, relatively uneventful race.
“The simple truth is that we were not happy with where the car was in terms of balance and driver’s feeling after the sprint race. We had finished P4, but it was effectively a P5 without Oscar’s [Piastri] stoppage.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
“Nobody wanted to settle for a car that would have been sub-optimal. We felt the optimum window was not where we were.
“We tried our only car at that moment [Verstappen’s] to change it before the main qualifying. We obviously got it wrong, but it’s the way we go racing. We take risks and if we don’t take that amount of risks, we don’t think we’ll be able to win.
“So we took that risk. It didn’t work. It’s painful. We got the quali wrong. That’s what it is.
“But again, we have taken a lot of these risks in the past few months. I insist it is the way this team goes racing. That’s the spirit in Red Bull Racing.
“The car was alive today, that’s the most important thing. The car was probably good enough to fight for the win today. That’s what we’re after, after the relatively average result of the sprint.”
If Red Bull continued to have the fastest car on the grid, as it had from the beginning of the current ground-effect regulations through to the early portion of 2024, it might not have to take so many risks. But as Verstappen said to race engineer Giampiero Lambiase while being advised not to push too hard on his final set of tyres in Brazil: “We have nothing to lose.”
Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
Verstappen has been on something of an emotional roller coaster over the past few months, declaring the championship over in summer, then regaining some optimism when a new floor and set-up approach unlocked performance from Monza onwards, then theatrically declaring the race over again after being eliminated in Q1 in Sao Paulo.
While it is apparent that Red Bull has been able to find a way of running the RB21 in a way that makes rear ride height less critical, at bumpier circuits it is still bottoming out at the rear. Sector two at Interlagos, where the track is at its most uneven and many of the corners incorporate crests or camber changes, was noticeably problematic for the Red Bull drivers through practice and sprint qualifying.
The changes Red Bull made between the sprint race and qualifying for the grand prix on Verstappen’s car made it slightly more benign through sector two, but at the cost of losing grip in the other sectors. Mekies declined to go into detail about the changes Red Bull made to Verstappen’s set-up between qualifying and Sunday’s race.
“I’m not sure I would have a big interest to elaborate, but let me put it this way,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that our window is narrow and it’s difficult to find that window for a given track layout and for a given set of circumstances and conditions on the track layout.
“We have been fighting to find it this weekend and eventually we did. It does not mean that you start Las Vegas with a magic set-up in the car. It’s a question we have to fight every weekend – and we’ll try to have it a bit sooner next weekend.”
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