The unsolved F1 weakness that almost defeated Red Bull

Red Bull has won all but four of the last 41 grands prix in Formula 1, with Max Verstappen adding to that collection at Imola on Sunday - one day after he'd taken another pole position, too.
But that doesn't tell half the story of the weekend - one that caused Red Bull serious headaches that it only just got on top of.
Scott Mitchell-Malm joins Edd Straw and Mark Hughes (both on the ground in Imola) to review the 2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
00:00 Intro
03:30 How the race played out
10:50 Was there any way Norris could have caught Verstappen?
12:30 What could Piastri have achieved from the front row?
19:14 Ferrari’s progress
23:11 Mercedes
24:48 Stroll vs Tsunoda
27:54 Williams
32:40 Listener questions
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#f1 #formula1 #formulaone #grandprix #f12024 #therace #motorsport #imola #emiliaromagnagp #maxverstappen #redbull #landonorris #mclaren #ferrari #mercedes #astonmartin

[@timoooo7320]

This is one race were Verstappen clearly made the difference. Look where Perez ended and where Verstappen ended. On the other hand, look at where Ferrari teammates ended relative to each other and where the McLaren teammates ended relative to each other.

[@paperplane-db8qf]

Perez is a bad example because it’s Perez. Other teams have a far better 2nd driver.

[@swoosh26]

Is it are is max just a better first driver. Checo beat all of his teammates true the years lol​@paperplane-db8qf

[@X379]

I'm sick of talking about the Pirellis at this point. We need a shakeup

[@zainmalik1872]

and what is it that Pirelli is doing wrong, and has no way of fixing, that you believe they need to be axed?

[@PazLeBon]

'.i dont see anyone is really offering something better

[@selder_7]

Very impressed by Piastri’s progress, Lando still doing better over a whole race but Piastri could’ve had two podiums had things not gone against him these past two races. Piastri pushing at the start and Norris at the end is a great 1-2 punch McLaren could have to take wins from Verstappen on less dominant weekends

[@caro2501]

The McLaren was clearly the best car this weekend; just look at how RBR struggled on friday and saturday and it was clear the driver made the difference!

[@vikashchandra9917]

Jeez, stop claiming that RBR was slower than McLaren. The free practices are for dialing the set up, a car being slow or fast doesn’t matter much. When it came to quali, max got pole. And then drove away for the first stint. Really what happened is that now McLaren have a better car for managing tyre deg and that brought them close to win. I get you like max, and I admire him too, but this is a bit unreasonable praise.

[@leishembayengkhom33]

But analysis and data don't lie just check some data from x McLaren have a good race pace then RB. ​@@vikashchandra9917

[@turdferguson3803]

​@@vikashchandra9917 The McLaren was the fastest car this weekend, Max got pole by getting a toe from Hulkenburg and he did a better job of maximizing every sector than Piastri and Norris. The pace advantage he had early on was from being in clean air, and even that wasn't enough to prevent Norris from charging him at the end.

[@barneyklingenberg4078]

@Vikash Your totally right. But it’s a bit harsh on Max. Despite the tremendous pressure and tyres that were absolutely done. He as always did not buckle. Showing that he can be relied upon on delivering the max achieveable nearly every race. And i do not see that quality in Norris. Despite Lando obviously has the pace and talent.

[@paperplane-db8qf]

Max was fastest in all 3 sessions of qualifying. And easily led the whole race. It was not the slower car just because they screwed up the setup on Friday.

[@f.kieranfinney457]

Just rooting for Charles to win Monaco given the strength of that Ferrari and his past misfortunes. My RBR team won’t suffer with a 2nd place and the sport could use that happy story.

[@jivewig]

Was this one of those off weekends with setup mistake? I have a feeling they’ll be back at their game in Monaco, it’s rear limited.

[@SiegfriedDerDrachentoter]

But the way Ferrari engine delivers power and slow corners probs suits them more than Rb

[@vikashchandra9917]

May be, but remember that McLaren and Ferrari will also improve their understanding of updates more and more

[@stephensegal5187]

​@@vikashchandra9917Monaco will be a COMPLETELY different setup for ALL the cars.

[@vikashchandra9917]

@@stephensegal5187 agreed but they will still have some valuable learnings. It won’t be a 100% discard everything after Monaco set up kind of thing.

[@stephensegal5187]

@SiegfriedDerDrachentoter all you do is run a stiffer rear gears etc to make up the difference. Monaco is a Driver dependant track, as We saw in last years qualifying.

[@Impulse_auto_cars]

These tires are rubbish

[@PazLeBon]

compared to what? lol

[@Impulse_auto_cars]

@@PazLeBon compared to when there was more than one tire supplier, lol

[@PazLeBon]

@@Impulse_auto_cars wehad some terrible days with them choices too :) races where you could not win if you had a certain tyre. now at least it is the same for everyione.. tyre saving is important and we need to see more of it imo whereas others just want flat out qualifying pace all race :)

[@tomventers]

Can you guys use video for podcasts too?

[@lizrrdbreath]

is this the first race we haven't visited Valterri Bottas sympathy corner?

[@Ogole-oye]

As I mentioned on one of y'all's uploads... I think RedBull like Aston Martin late last year experiencing a temporary dip in form. And it's my belief that this is down to the direction taken with the upgrades. Ever since the upgrades the car has lost balance and has been eating up tires. This hinders the drivers from maximizing its potential. It's not that they have peaked in terms of development as they took a new direction which opened up new scope. This form coincides with their upgrades.

[@stephensegal5187]

I thought that too, but then I realized that quite suddenly the Other teams that have suffered from lack of rear grip for several years now all suddenly were able to solve their rear grip issues at the same time. Meanwhile now RedBull has too much rear traction, and is wiping the tires off of the nose with understeer. That can only be because Pirelli is screwing with the rear tire compound. I speculate it is at the FIA's encouragement to control the racing through the tire compound.

[@PazLeBon]

not a new direction mo, simply at the limits of the chassis snd design itself somewhat

[@PazLeBon]

@@stephensegal5187 looking after tyesi s a much bigger 'value'in American racing, we need tyres that wear out if over driven and thats kinda what happening at times

[@stephensegal5187]

@PazLeBon When I add "Everyone else" to your RedBull analysis, I see multiple Teams all magically solving Their longstanding rear grip issues virtually simutaneously, and suddenly RedBull has too much rear grip to the extent that they are wiping the front tires off of the nose with understeer. To me, I instantly see the possibility of Pirelli modifying the rear tire compound in an effort to produce closer racing. You would have a hard time convincing Me that all of these dynamics on all of these cars have suddenly shifted "organically" from aero upgrades. If so, I should buy a lottery ticket!

[@stephensegal5187]

@PazLeBon Monaco is almost a completely different race car for a rear limited, Driver dependant Street course. If what I speculate has any merit, then Max should be in His Own League this weekend. And especially if it rains. Time will tell. 😀

[@markusbarr6671]

Could the close fight be due to RBR being at the start of development with their "new" concept and the other teams being in year 2 or 3 of "old" Red bull concept?

[@sidharthtirkey44]

New concept?

[@vikashchandra9917]

What new concept? I think they are just hitting marginal returns, while others have more gains to make to reach the same limit. A blow would be if McLaren brought further updates and got clear ahead of RB, that would mean that RB failed to find that final extra performance that is there in the design.

[@robertnowac8094]

I think RB's choice not to do testing on the hard tire almost sunk them.

[@PazLeBon]

new rules as opposed to a concept tbut absolutelyvhas a bearin gin the sense they divert funds to that before others. plus they were closer to the max capabilities of this design first. it still has a ceiling and the others are now reaching towards that celing too

[@raggen1571]

You can always trust The-Race to play down Yuki’s efforts this season, while Albon is a «championship-level racer»

[@PazLeBon]

true

[@mohammedbinmahfooz7718]

Hi, could someone explain the clipping (associated with the engine mode) that alot of people are talking about ?

[@etiennec8139]

My guess would be the reduced power output because of the battery exhaustion (electric motor shutting off, this having a "clipping" effect on power) but I might be all wrong.

[@PazLeBon]

@@etiennec8139 its switching modes ii magine yes switching to fuel only becaase has not enough in reserve

[@shemian8757]

Unless the rb20 has a smaller operating window it’s scary to think how dominant this coullllld be I know everyone and even parts of me wants to be optimistic that McLaren’s and Ferrari can challenge but on a weekend where Red Bull clearly got it wrong and didn’t get to do the research they would like to if they had been better on Friday, it’s crazy to think how dominant this car still is after everyone is bringing these huge upgrades, if it was just a case they didn’t have the correct set up for the hard. If they got that right it could have been another 10+ sec win …..assuming it was just a set up issue

[@PazLeBon]

car wasnt dominant at all, thats kinda bltant. Max was dominant not the car

[@Uranswer-yu5kp]

What no one is talking about. Ricciardo again underperforming. There’s a good chance he could be replaced during the break.

[@aweston4865]

Lots of people and media have been talking about this most of the season no?

[@Uranswer-yu5kp]

@@aweston4865 the people yes the media has pretty much stayed away. Much like this video.

[@aweston4865]

@@Uranswer-yu5kp the race did a whole video on this last month.

[@miltonjuniorsantoslordelo5983]

Heard a lot of rumours online about Lawson joining RB mid season, but not much coming from motorsport's media Which is funny considering how much attention they gave to Antonelli - Sargeant situation

[@f.kieranfinney457]

Danny is there to bring in sponsors who enjoy meeting him. He’s the marketing dream boy. So his performance doesn’t matter so much. Tsunoda is stuck there and should leave RB if he wants to move up the ranks. He would be a slam dunk at Aston if the world was fair. Williams or Haas seem like excellent options.

[@PazLeBon]

max wins in any of those 3 cars

[@reesilva1]

video on podcast

[@ChrispyNut]

I think "Oscar" made the same mistake I've seen over and over from him ... parking his car under the rear wing of car in front, degrading his tyres significantly. I really think he needs to learn to fall back, then maybe challenge again after a while, especially as it means both cars fall further and further from leaders due to defensive driving. It's really starting to irritate me now.

[@askeladden450]

tbh, carlos was so much slower than the drivers ahead that it didn't make sense for oscar to go even slower. His best option was to stay as close as possible, then pit and undercut him, which worked out pretty well.

[@ChrispyNut]

@@askeladden450 He sat there for 23 laps, overworking his tyres and he'd only have to "go slower" for 1 corner of 1 lap and then maintain the pace whilst going easier on the tyres, opening more strategy options and providing himself the opportunity to overtake before the pitstops by having better tyres on top of faster car.

[@Andy-oc3ew]

I knew he had fucked his tires after his first lap on the hards, it was 1 second quicker than anyone else, no thinking of managing the tires and bringing them up to temp.

[@askeladden450]

Not denying that oscar is really poor in managing tyres. But it wouldnt have mattered here. This wasnt a track where you could overtake by even managing your tyres. Even on his second stint, he had to sacrifice tyre life by pushing for the first few laps to undercut carlos. This track was all about track position.

[@ChrispyNut]

@@Andy-oc3ew Nah, that's unfair, that push was required to utilize the undercut and gain track position. It was before that, on the mediums which was the problem.

[@sanjayoak4416]

Redbull (power) train is with a single engine, whereas McLaren looks like a twin engine. Perez not up to the mark, making mistakes.

[@Car_Fanatic]

Do a video podcast. Its 2024 thats what everyone does

[@Torta--is--PLUR]

Just take away the upgrades and go back to the car that destroyed the competition.

[@kaceydillin7367]

Red Bull has no weakness. Max the greatest driver, Honda the most iconic engine manufacturer, and Newey, the goat of car design.

[@asian_sammy2022]

👑 Max

[@PazLeBon]

neweys gone and i think red bull are gonna make thier own engines. keep up :)

[@tiagoferreira5368]

Bearman is driving horribly in F2. How can Haas justify promoting him ?

[@PazLeBon]

cos he proved he can handle an f1 car maybe? just a thought

[@tiagoferreira5368]

@@PazLeBon yeah in 1 race which he was already preparing for in F2. I like Bearman but he's doing really poorly and doesn't deserve any seat if he does not turn things around

[@PazLeBon]

@@tiagoferreira5368 theres people paid more than you and i to make those decisions :) he may have a terrble f2 car for all i kknow. i judge f1 drivers in f1 cars, not f2, le mans or evs :)