Red Bull’s Formula 1 car being unsettled when mounting kerbs during the Monaco Grand Prix has exposed a correlation problem, according to advisor Helmut Marko.
With Ferrari and McLaren providing a sterner challenge in recent races, Max Verstappen heeded caution regarding Red Bull’s prospects coming into the race weekend.
The Dutchman appeared to be on the right lines as practice unravelled with Red Bull lagging behind its rivals and struggling to unlock an optimal balance on its RB20.
But while Verstappen seemed to have recovered to be in contention to log a record ninth successive pole position, he touched the wall on his last lap and ended sixth.
The reigning champion cut an agitated figure as he described his Red Bull as a “go-kart running without a suspension” that was “not absorbing kerb strikes or bumps.”
Verstappen also divulged that Red Bull’s struggles to ride kerbs had been prevalent since 2022 but its recent dominance had prevented rival squads from capitalising.
Expanding upon the leading contributor to the Austrian outfit’s complications in Monaco, Marko has conceded that the simulator does not flag up its issues on kerbs.
“The season started with the idea that it would be a great success. And then there was the first disappointment in Australia,” Marko told Sky DE.
“But the fundamental problem is not the tracks.
“It is that the correlation between the simulator and the track does not work. In the simulator we drive over the kerbs without any problems.”
“And to use an expression from Max, the car bounces like a kangaroo, and that is the problem. And that has already been shown in the set-up for Miami and partly in Imola.
“So we have to start with that. But we have to ensure that when we get to real circuits, such as Barcelona, that we hopefully regain our old form there,” he concluded.
Verstappen has suggested that Red Bull will continue to be more vulnerable at circuits that require cars to absorb kerbs to unlock the lap time to compete for victories.
“It’s a fundamental problem so it’s not something that will be fixed within weeks,” he cited.
With the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada also proving to be a track where ride quality is essential, Verstappen has accepted that Red Bull will be vulnerable elsewhere.
Asked whether he anticipates more problems emanating in the coming rounds, Verstappen replied: “I mean Spain has no bumps so that’s probably better for us, but some tracks with bumps where you have to ride kerbs, there are definitely a few tracks not ideal for us but also probably some races suit our car more.
“We know where we have to work on.
“There’s one clear direction where we are still lacking quite a bit of performance and already if we can fix that our car can be better on every single track.”
