organic wrote: ↑26 Mar 2025, 02:29
couple of quotes from Erik van Haren the past few days:
But anyone who claims that Verstappen would have all the power at Red Bull is wrong. [Verstappen] also disagrees with the team management's decision to intervene so quickly.
Red Bull is searching
It shows once again that the team is searching. Both in terms of drivers and in terms of the car. Team boss Christian Horner also had to admit after the Chinese Grand Prix that he has no idea what to expect from his team during the next showdown, in Japan in just under two weeks. He acknowledged that his team lacks speed. And of course that they are working hard to get things back on track. But that will also have happened in Milton Keynes during the winter and the fact is that the gap with the competition has only increased, compared to the already unconvincing 2024. It is logical that doubts will also arise with leader and four-time world champion Verstappen as to whether the team is still able to solve the problems.
doesn't really bode well for verstappen remaining for much longer in this team, to be honest
They need to relearn to build fast cars that can be driven universally by any F-1 driver. Vettel and Webber days, both were high performers with the Redbull. In Riciardo and Max's time, both could extract speed.
There is no point to this car being edgy and all that macho-nerd stuff if it's not the fastest by a mile. It's literally 2nd to 3rd fastest with a peculiar feel for no good reason. It's pretty much a failed philosophy since the start of the 2024. An evolutionary dead end if you will.
This car is like a professional road bicycle with a bespoke carbon frame, slippery pedals, prickly handle bars, and seat mounted with the sharp end pointing up, all to suit one rider's liking... but yields no wins for all that weird fitment.
I don't buy the excuse from Redbull anymore that the car is like the way it is to be the fastest. McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari have shown winning cars can simply be conventional. Newey probably saw this transition to the obscure and then made his exit.