(Motorsports news) In fact, it might become the first F1 challenger to ever produce a season clean-sweep, assuming Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez aren’t derailed by a dose of bad luck over the second half of the season. But even if the RB19 is outpacing competitors, Red Bull’s opinion of the vehicle is very different.
Because it does not consider the RB19 to be a standout challenger who has produced something especially exceptional. It’s just a car that functions admirably in every way. According to Pierre Wache, technical director at Red Bull, “RB19 is average good for everything, which is building a good car.
It’s lacking in one important way. We think it is excellent since we are faster than the competition, but in reality, I think we didn’t do a great job. We performed well. “I would say that I was more startled by others, who didn’t do as well a job. We had different expectations at the start of the year because of this.
“I don’t want to be humble or anything, but when you see some teams are able to gain one second per lap over the course of three races, it suggests that if you put the right pieces together, RB19 will be decent. It doesn’t need to be developed for two years. Red Bull concluded the 2022 season on a high note, winning 10 of the final 11 races, but the team feared it would slip back into the pack this year.
It anticipated a three-way title race due to a change in floor restrictions, Mercedes putting the finishing touches on the zeropod idea, and Ferrari shifting early attention to their 2023 car. It was most certainly not considering how unbeatable it was or how many races it had already won.
“We didn’t anticipate that,” said Wache. “We expected that two teams, Mercedes and Ferrari, might be battling it out for the victory. “At the end of the previous year, we believed that our advantage for RB19 was insufficient. These teams would return as a result of the floor’s rule adjustment, which raised the kick line and floor edge. The loss of performance we believed we had experienced over the winter, particularly after October with the reduction in wind tunnel time we had, made success difficult to attain. So, yes, it caught everyone off guard at the start of the season.
Even though the RB19 has won every race so far this season, things have not always been simple. It is evident that the competition is still posing a formidable challenge. Red Bull claims there are flaws that need to be addressed if the success is to continue, so it’s clear that it’s not just sitting back and waiting for things to get better.
When asked if he had any car-related insomnia, Wache responded, “Everything is waking me up at night! I believe the team works well because we remain grounded in reality. With the other teams, nothing is assumed. “I believe our deficiencies show up in the high downforce case, and particularly in really high downforce like Budapest and Monaco. Additionally, in low speed and quali.
“I feel like some teams have a better compromise there than us, and that is something we need to get better at,” the player said. And it is because of this grounded perspective that Wache is reluctant to laud the RB19 as one of the finest F1 cars of all time, even if it ends up being the most successful statistically. Regarding it being one of the best F1 designs ever, he responded, “I don’t think so.” “Perhaps we’ll realize that next year, as I’m hoping the car will be significantly superior to this one in every way.”
“The success of the car is fantastic, but I believe it is a result of both the driver and the car. Additionally, what we have now is the result of the hard work put in since 2014 in rebuilding the team, welcoming new members, and creating a new organizational structure. It did not happen by accident or in an instant.
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