Yesterday at 08:20
It is difficult to precisely pinpoint the developments that have
taken place on the RB21 over the first part of the season. While
there were elements that had been in the planning for some time,
especially around the development of the chassis introduced in
Austria, there was a clear sense that the changes introduced in
Japan, Miami and Imola were mostly corrections of problems or
limitations found in the design. In Japan, for example, a rear end
was introduced with an extremely narrow hood with no slots for heat
dissipation, directing much of the airflow to the rear of the car.
Even then, there was an impression, confirmed at the last race at
Silverstone, that the Red Bull RB21 suffers from poor aerodynamic
efficiency. It was, therefore, always necessary to adopt more
streamlined or at least more efficient configurations in terms of
bodywork. Verstappen's driving style The initial changes to the
underside, made only on Max Verstappen's car in Miami, were
intended as a precursor to a more comprehensive package in Imola.
The underside not only had to guarantee the aerodynamic load
provided by the wings, but also to return the aerodynamic balance
to a more centred equilibrium. Thus, an attempt was made to reduce
chronic understeer, which is characteristic of the current car. An
additional issue is the extreme stiffness of the front end, which
does not help solve understeer. Instead, it causes an obvious
transfer of load to the rear, especially when changing direction
quickly. We can say that the RB21 inherited all the problems of the
RB20, witnessed in the second part of last season, without them
being solved. The design direction of technical director Pierre
Waché and his team has, instead, focused on making the car more
effective based on Verstappen's driving style. It is fair to
suggest that this is an understandable choice from a sporting and
championship point of view, but there is no real technical basis
for it. In essence, following this path has not allowed the
engineers from Milton Keynes to definitively solve the car's
dynamic and aerodynamic problems, simply by finding a compromise in
terms of on-track behaviour that would still allow Verstappen
complete control. Embedded and widespread The British Grand Prix
showed that, in variable grip conditions, even this objective was
missed by the decision to reduce the rear-wing downforce to improve
the RB21's efficiency on Silverstone's straights, resulting in a
higher top speed, to favour one-lap performance in qualifying.
Essentially, it was a non-solution, which highlighted how the car's
current limitations which are no longer offset by Verstappen's
considerable talent. It now remains to be seen whether Verstappen
will still be able to challenge his direct rivals over the second
half of the season at certain circuits, such as Zandvoort, where
efficiency counts for much less. The widespread belief in the
paddock, however, is that Red Bull's winning ways are at an end.
