Red Bull provide clear response to Max Verstappen ‘flattering’ RB20 theory

With Red Bull’s dominance seemingly at an end, the question now is whether Max Verstappen is flattering the RB20’s performance.

After winning all but one race in 2023, the Milton Keynes-based squad is in the unfamiliar situation of being hunted down by McLaren as the Woking-based squad appears to have a quicker car than Red Bull.

Red Bull’s ‘work is unwavering’

Having won four of the first six races, and fought for victory in the other two, the first quarter of the 2024 season appeared to be a continuation of last year’s dominance for Red Bull.

But, in the second quarter of the season and through until the Belgian Grand Prix, the McLaren drivers have stepped forward, as has the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell – the run into the summer break saw four consecutive races occur without a Verstappen victory, for the first time since 2020.

Red Bull’s dominance thus seems to be an end and, given the performance gap between Verstappen and Sergio Perez – to the point where the Mexican has had to fend off the possibility of a mid-season replacement – it’s brought up the question of just how good the RB20 really is.

After all, if the car were to be judged on Perez’s performances, the RB20 would appear to be an upper midfield car. In the hands of Verstappen, it’s still a car capable of victories and, perhaps, the titles. So which is the more accurate assessment of the car?

Addressing that very question was Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan, with PlanetF1.com asking of the British engineer during a joint interview as to whether the reigning World Champion is outperforming the level of the car, or if that would be doing a disservice to the effort being put in at the factory on the RB20.

“The work that goes into the car is unwavering,” Monaghan stated.

“I think, if we look back at last year, then if that’s about we set ourselves to have a modest lap time advantage everywhere and carry it through, then yeah, it’s getting a little bit tighter and Max might well reflect upon that.

“But, no, I don’t think Max is flattering it. If Max is pushing himself harder to get a race result because others are closer, that’s the nature of competition, isn’t it?”

As for Perez, who has been given the vote of confidence by the team to continue on into the second half of the season and see how he fares at tracks he’s known to be a strong performer at, such as Singapore’s Marina Bay or Azerbaijan’s Baku City Circuit, Monaghan said the Mexican driver is well able to pilot the RB20 just as capably.

“I think Checo – it was lovely to see him go so well yesterday [qualifying in Belgium], he was on scrubbed tyres and set a time, wallop, right up there in Q3,” he said.

“Wonderful for him, and wonderful for the team. I saw, yesterday, in the debrief the driver that was settled in himself, and it’s good for him.

“There are many detractors, and the only person who could rescue it was him, and he did. I thought it took a great deal of courage to go out in a wet qualifying and do that.

“So, hopefully, he takes great solace from that and maintains it. He can drive it too, don’t worry. None of them are slouches when they reach this level!”

More on Red Bull and Max Verstappen

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Verstappen’s use of the team radio in Hungary resulted in some raised eyebrows as he unequivocally criticised the team’s handling of his strategy which resulted in him being shuffled back to fifth place after his final stop.

But the Dutch driver’s blunt nature is of no concern for Monaghan, who said such comments – regardless of the nature and tone of how they’re presented – are merely indicative of the standards he expects from his squad, and from himself.

“I think Max sets a pretty high bar for himself as well as us,” Monaghan said.

“Last year and at races this year, he’s reached a level the others have thus far yet to match. And as such, if he feels that we are not attaining his high bar, we can expect those kinds of comments.

“I don’t really have a strong view on how he presents it to us, whether the tone is pleasant, unpleasant. Look at it as if he is sensing that we are not getting the most out of ourselves as a team.

“If he didn’t say anything, would it push us to do anything differently? Maybe, maybe not. But in making those comments, maybe view it as constructive criticism rather than a rant or anything like that.”

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