It was mentioned on the McL radio during the race that Suzuka had become a rear limited race.pantherxxx wrote: ↑17 Apr 2025, 18:12Jeddah's characteristics lean heavily toward front limitation, which could play right into the RB21’s strengths even more than Suzuka. Suzuka's got that mix — especially the first sector with those high-speed S-curves — where it's definitely front-limited, but then you get to the Degners, Spoon, and especially the traction-heavy exit out of the Casio Triangle and onto the main straight, and suddenly the rears start to come into play. Rear-limited tracks are where the RB21 shows its main vulnerability. Jeddah though? That place is a pure front-end-demanding beast. Fast, flowing corners, constant direction changes, and high-speed entries with limited braking zones. With fewer traction-heavy zones, the car’s potential rear tire weaknesses are less exposed. Unless the high track temps throw them off, Red Bull should be seriously strong — especially with how well the RB21 handles front-limited layouts like Jeddah.
I don't think RB is good at front limited circuits. If you look at the past 3 years, they weren't dominating as much on front limited tracks as they were on rear limited circuits. This year, they haven't been able to benefit in Bahrain, but also not on a front limited track as AUS, because they cannot control temps whether it is front or rear temps.
So if they can control these temps then they might be more competitive independent whether the circuit is rear or front limited. However the car still suits rear limited tracks better, given the amount of understeer and lack of midspeed rotation.
