Red Bull F1 representative “The weaknesses exposed in Singapore are useful lessons for the RB20″[F1-Gate.com]

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s F1 team principal, admitted that the weaknesses of Red Bull’s previously unbeatable RB19 were exposed during the F1 Singapore Grand Prix weekend, and said that this was a “very useful lesson” for the 2024 F1 machine. In qualifying held on Saturday at the Singapore City Course, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez suffered a double Q2 exit, and on Sunday, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took victory, resulting in Red Bull’s unprecedented winning streak ending. It stopped at 15.

Red Bull had been off the pace since Friday, but Horner said the team had a better understanding of their problems after Sunday’s race and is hopeful that the rare weaknesses revealed can be corrected in the 2024 RB20. he said. “Maybe the simulations before the weekend didn’t lead us to the right conclusion, and we need to figure out how to get out of there,” Horner said. “We went in the wrong direction and exposed some of the weaknesses of the car. In fact, this was a very useful lesson for next year. Horner added: “I understood a lot more in the race and the pace of the car was much back to where I expected it to be.” “We knew it was going to be a close race here, but I was a little surprised by how far apart we were on Friday, especially on one lap, we weren’t in the right operating window for the car. “When you’re not there, the tires The feeling was terrible and everything was going wrong. I think we steered the race very well. Max’s pace was very strong, especially in the second stint.” Verstappen and Perez lost their position when the car in front of them pitted. I started with hard tires to make up for it. However, the safety car was brought out on lap 20 after Williams’ Logan Sargent crashed into the wall, allowing the leading cars to get a “free” pit stop. Verstappen and Perez briefly ran second and fourth after staying out, but were quickly overtaken by George Russell, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who were all on fresh tires. Red Bull ended up having to pit on laps 39 and 40 under race conditions, just before the virtual safety car was brought in on lap 43, and Verstappen dropped to 15th and Perez to 18th. He gained 10 positions in the final stint. “The lap where the safety car came out was probably the worst possible lap for our strategy, because it gave the cars in front of us a free stop and gained track position, while at the same time we were on tires that had run over 20 laps. “Max was passed by a car that had made a free stop. He then had to make a pit stop in normal race conditions, which put him an additional 23 seconds behind. .The recovery and pace in the second half of the race was fantastic.” Horner is hopeful that Red Bull will be back in contention for victory at next weekend’s F1 Japan Grand Prix. “If you look at the last 18 months, this was probably one of the trickiest race weekends for us, definitely Friday and Saturday, but the car was pretty strong in the race,” Horner said. Ta. “The layout and type of circuit are completely different, so I hope we can be competitive in Japan.” “Let’s see if it’s something unique to the circuit.” Ferrari will suddenly be in first and second place in Japan next weekend. We’ll see if we can make a big jump up.”This year, we’ve seen a big swing in form. We’ve been the only ones that have been consistent. I noticed that the RB19 was a little out of shape.It recovered in the race, but the safety car completely ruined it.”“It will be faster at Suzuka.”The RB19’s superiority so far this season Given the nature of the race, many in the paddock speculated that Red Bull could win every race in 2023, but Horner insists that was not in the team’s mind. “I didn’t expect to win it all. There were still eight races (now seven) left,” Horner said. “I’ve been hearing from Jeddah for a long time, but it’s more than I expected to have fought through 15 races. Max’s 10 wins in a row is crazy. He holds the record for most consecutive wins between first and second place (Sebastian Vettel) in F1. “It’s an incredibly proud thing to have.” “Apparently statistics don’t really matter, but it’s something we’re incredibly proud of as a team. “To have come this far, to have broken our record since 1988. , it shows how difficult it is to achieve the kind of supremacy we achieved this year. It’s a testament to everyone doing their part.”