Subordinate Pit trail To the platform. From disappointment to hope. From elimination in the first quarter of the rankings to regaining 16 places. From the lack of stability and aerodynamic load, to the RB21 being reborn in a matter of hours. Max Verstappen and the Red Bull Racing Wall took note of a strategy developed by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton four years ago at InterlagosAlthough the plan was more comprehensive and was decisive in reaching in better circumstances the definition of the title that celebrates it MadmaxThis came after a controversial and volatile decision by sports supervisors, led by Michael Massey, in Abu Dhabi.
With all the elements of the past, McLarenwho leads the World Drivers’ Championship with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri has requested information from the International Automobile Federation (FIA) to provide details on replacing the engines To show whether Milton Keynes breaks the budget limit.
Saturday’s disaster was crucial in testing multiple modifications. RB21 offers few opportunities for improvements, but the potential is very high once the solution is discovered. “I think it was the complete package: the engine, the setting, the strategy… I felt comfortable with a car with rhythm. The team responded twice, because the hard tire puncture put us back in last place and we returned to the middle compound…” Verstappen commented, about the modifications and conditions that brought him back into the battle and providing a new distinguished performance in San Pablo, even though he was not crowned with victory.
team leader, Laurent MikisHe supported completely revising the car to reinvent himself: “We’ve taken a lot of risks in the past few months. It’s the way this team goes to the races, it’s the spirit of RBR. After the modest race result Sprint (Verstappen, 4th; Yuki Tsunoda, 13th), the car came back to life and was good enough to fight for the win.
Four years ago, Hamilton arrived at the Sao Paulo event with a 19-point lead over Verstappen, and at Interlagos the team promoted the engine’s combustion chamber change.. The seven-time champion was penalized five places on the grid, but gained strength on the final four dates of the calendar.
Engineers analyzed this Interlagos was the right circuit To bear the punishment, because he has room for healing and on the path he showed that: in Sprint Race He started last after being declassified due to DRS anomalies and finished fifth. In the Grand Prix, he started from the tenth square and… won. It was the first episode of A series of successes that were repeated in Qatar and Saudi Arabiawonderful prizes in which Verstappen finished in second place, arriving at the Yas Marina Circuit equal in points.
Now, Verstappen must overcome 49 of the 83 points at stake against Norris to add a fifth star.but it also has competitor Piastri, which is 25 units apart. “That ship has sailed. “I think you should just let them run: the edge Lando has now is strong, but he can’t give up either…” he pointed out. Toto Wolfpresident Mercedesruling out the possibilities Madmax Announcing a face-to-face confrontation between McLaren drivers.
But the Woking-based team, which, if it wins the World Drivers’ Championship, will once again cap the season with both titles on the line – the constructors’ title was sealed in Singapore, six dates early – and thus repeat a feat it has not achieved since 1998 with Mika Hakkinen on the throne, the restored version of the RB21 becomes a threat on the track.
It’s not the only dark spot they’ve reviewed and They asked the FIA to investigate whether the Milton Keynes plant did not exceed the budget limit of $135 million.. “It is always a good idea to install a new motorAlthough the program would have finished the year without that need. “It’s difficult to give a figure for the benefit in terms of lap time, but the margins are small and everything counts,” said Mikis from Sao Paulo.
For McLaren, if the power unit is replaced due to reliability or failure, this will have no impact on the budget cap, but if – as in the case of this RBR – the team deliberately decides to replace it for the sake of performance, the expenditure must be added to the cost cap. “The power unit changes are testing the regulations and it will be interesting to see whether the cost of this engine is within the limit or not. “That’s one of the reasons we don’t do it,” said McLaren team boss Andrea Stella, who is not afraid of the RBR’s performance with a new engine.
“I don’t know how it works in the case of Honda, but in general these engines don’t show much degradation with mileage. “For this reason, the engine is not usually changed by accepting a penalty or losing positions, because the performance recovered does not compensate for the positions lost,” was the Italian engineer’s analysis, which in his opinion reflects the progress of engines in the hybrid turbo era.
In ten days, on the Las Vegas street circuit, Verstappen will show the messages and remarks made by the McLaren team may have a clear answer.
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