Red Bull Technical Director Pierre Wache reckons the rate at which Max Verstappen adapts to tracks in Formula 1 is an “insane advantage” he retains over other drivers.
With 36 victories from the last 47 races, the Red Bull and Verstappen partnership has developed into one of F1’s greatest since the return to ground effect cars in 2022.
Despite Red Bull being unopposed throughout last season and winning all but one race, Verstappen wound up a crushing 290 points ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
While he sustained a retirement at the most recent round in Australia, the Dutchman sits atop the Drivers’ Championship due to earlier wins in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Wache believes one of Verstappen’s greatest strengths that gives him an edge over his competitors is how seamless he gets up to speed on a given circuit each weekend.
“He loves racing, has insane talent and feels the limit of the car perfectly”, Wache told RacingNews365.
“Before I started working with him, I had never experienced a driver who was immediately on the limit on his first lap.”
“That really gives him an insane advantage, especially since we are allowed to test so little these days.
“It’s also an advantage for us when you have a driver who can immediately drive the car at the limit.”
“Also, he is just good at driving the car as the driver. Like us [engineers], he is an [like an] engineer because he is constantly looking for opportunities to improve the car.”
“Victory is not enough for him, he always wants more, just like the rest of the team. He doesn’t rest after a victory so to speak, he keeps going.”
Verstappen’s true dominance began at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, when rumours that a mid-season rule tweak to the floor edges could hamper Red Bull were dispelled.
The now-three-time F1 champion qualified on pole with a six-tenth margin and won the race with 17.8 seconds in hand despite starting down in 14th due to a grid drop.
When asked about Verstappen’s exploits at his second home venue on the F1 calendar, Wache said: “Max is very fast on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
“In addition, the RB18 also suited the track perfectly. Those two aspects made the difference in Belgium.
“The fact that there were still a lot of bouncing cars also played a role, because that’s where the problem can arise with the current generation of cars.
“We actually gained an advantage over the competition because the rules were tightened.
“Therefore, you can speak of a turning point during that weekend. Indeed, Ferrari had the fastest car in the field at the beginning of 2022.”
He added: “We got the full potential out of the car at Spa and that while the FIA tightened the rules in terms of the board under the car.
“That change ultimately gave us an even greater advantage over the competition.
“We were already not suffering as much from porpoising and from that point on the difference between us and Ferrari became even greater.”
Verstappen would progress to win all but two of the remaining races that season to set a record-breaking 15 victories in one season, which he beat with 19 last term.
