Метка: Red Bull Racing

Is Liam Lawson the F1 driver Red Bull needs? Our writers debate

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Liam Lawson will race in the US Grand Prix next month after replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull’s sister Formula 1 team RB.

It won’t be the first time the Kiwi competes in F1 but, on this occasion, it’s not just as a stand-in, and his arrival is seen as a test for Red Bull to find out if it has the right man for the future.

So is Lawson the driver Red Bull currently needs? Our writers debate. 

Only time will tell — Filip Cleeren

The honest but boring answer is that the proof will be in the pudding, but I think there are certain cues that should provide Red Bull with some optimism about how far Lawson can go.

Every single driver on the current Formula 1 grid can be fast on their day, but that is not what Red Bull is looking for. Daniel Ricciardo showed flashes of pace, and so does Sergio Perez, but neither has been consistent enough across the board. It cost Ricciardo his chance to replace Perez in the first place, but the Mexican may still lose his seat as well.

Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri AT04

Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri AT04

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

So, what Red Bull really needs is someone who can pair a natural turn of speed with the adaptability to drive around car handling limitations, and the ability to cope with the pressure of fighting for wins at the front against arguably the most difficult team-mate you could wish to have in Max Verstappen.

For promising talents at the start of their F1 careers that can be a poisoned chalice, just ask Alex Albon or Pierre Gasly, but we have seen indications that Lawson is up for the challenge.

Firstly, there is the way he jumped into Ricciardo’s car at Zandvoort last year, from a wet Saturday practice onwards. He didn’t set the world alight on that first weekend, nor could he have been expected to on such short notice, but he immediately showed the steel to deal with the occasion.

His five-race cameo then went crescendo with a commendable ninth-place finish on the tough streets of Singapore, which seems to be the weekend that really impressed Christian Horner and Helmut Marko the most. Then came an evaluation drive this summer at Monza with the 2022 AlphaTauri, which is understood to have been another high-pressure stress test that Lawson passed with flying colours.

Pair that with the patience and maturity the 22-year-old has shown since having to step back into a reserve role, and Lawson has done everything Red Bull has asked of him so far. He appears to have the ability and mindset to keep doing so, but he will have a tough challenge on his hands against the increasingly impressive Yuki Tsunoda, who has a big head start having been with the Anglo-Italian squad for four years.

Lawson going straight to Red Bull could’ve saved it all the Ricciardo angst — Alex Kalinauckas

Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, arrives at the track

Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, arrives at the track

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Red Bull’s PR strategy is often such a curious thing. Everyone in the F1 paddock knew Singapore was going to be Ricciardo’s last race – just check out how many journalists had painstakingly selected pictures where you can see them in the background of shots of him as ways to say, ‘so long, good luck’.

While certainly a distraction to RB, which let’s not forget is engaged in a thrilling scrap with Haas for sixth in the constructors’ championship and so millions in prize money, it would’ve made more sense to have announced the swap with Lawson ahead of time and not go through the ridiculous ‘we don’t know until we do’ charade.

But there was an even better alternative for Red Bull. Clearly, Ricciardo blew his chance to earn a promotion back to the big team in place of Perez. But swapping Lawson in for Perez straightaway and keeping RB and its sponsors happy with Ricciardo is a far better solution than dropping the Australian.

Red Bull has done that now so it can make plans for promotion – along with surely an outside hire, such as George Russell or Oscar Piastri – or one of Lawson or Tsunoda for 2026 if Verstappen does indeed head off. Perez has no chance of being kept as team leader given his 2025 berth still isn’t certain. But were those five 2023 races where he outscored Tsunoda (although trailed him in qualifying) in place of the injured Ricciardo not enough for Red Bull to know if Lawson can cut it already?

It saw in enough in Nyck de Vries in one Williams race in 2022 to promote him for the following year with the then AlphaTauri squad. And perhaps it’s how badly that backfired that is keeping Red Bull cautious now. But, even if the impressively ice cool Lawson doesn’t match up with Verstappen straightaway ahead of 2026, at least Red Bull would find out earlier and it’d be no different to Perez’s continued underperformance.

It hasn’t really gained in doing what it’s done, it’s just jettisoned the wrong driver.

Watch: Why RB have Dropped Ricciardo for Lawson with Immediate Effect



Source link

Monza low the turning point for Red Bull’s 2024 F1 season

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Christian Horner thinks Red Bull’s poor Italian Grand Prix weekend may have been the low point that helped turn its 2024 season around.

Red Bull’s performance dip hit a new low in Monza where the RB20 was the fourth-fastest car, with Max Verstappen calling his car a «monster» as he became ever more pessimistic about his chances of holding off McLaren’s Lando Norris in the championship.

But the Italy trip did turn out to be a useful data-gathering exercise as Red Bull continued its floor experiments across both cars, and according to team principal Horner, it unearthed the root cause of what had been going wrong with the RB20’s handling.

«We already could see the issues, but I think what Monza really exposed was perhaps some of the root cause, or helped to identify the root cause of the issue. So I’m taking Monza as the low point and we’re starting to build out of that,» he said in Singapore.

Following Monza’s poor showing, Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez was back in contention in Baku on a different set-up to the Dutchman, and in Singapore, Verstappen finished second, albeit a sobering distance between runaway winner Norris.

Those are not the kind of results the formerly dominant team will have been excited about, but at least they indicated that Red Bull has started to turn a corner, with a four-week gap to Austin’s US Grand Prix an opportunity to convert its painful summertime lessons into a more robust car upgrade.

«Obviously the gap to Lando was significant in the first part of the race and we’ve now got the best part of a month to work hard and try and bring some performance to the car in Austin,» Horner said.

«When you consider where we were a couple of weeks ago, I think we have made some real progress. We’ve got a vein of development, and we’ve understood some of the issues with the car. I think we’re starting to address them.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

«We were better in Baku, we were better here. So, there’ll be a lot of late nights in Milton Keynes. 

«The McLaren is the benchmark car at the moment and we have a bit to catch up, but we’ve got the people and the capability to do that.»

Horner said Red Bull’s Austin upgrade hasn’t been signed off yet, but the lead times involved in getting new parts through the design and production cycle means the Milton Keynes factory has been flat out to try and incorporate its latest design solutions into the car that will take it through a challenging triple-header in Austin, Mexico and Brazil.

«It probably hasn’t been finalised yet, so there’s a lot of information that are coming out of these events that will influence what’s going on the car in Austin.

«We’ve got a lot of useful information out of the last two races, but they’re very, very different venues to the sweeping curves of Austin and Mexico. Brazil is a different one again, so it will be interesting. 

«Everybody is massively motivated in the team and we’re still fighting obviously for both championships.»



Source link

Red Bull head of F1 strategy Courtenay to join McLaren

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO



The McLaren Formula 1 team has announced it has signed Red Bull’s chief strategist Will Courtenay as its new sporting director.

Having initially joined the team as a systems engineer in 2003 under its Jaguar guise before moving to a strategy role once the team became Red Bull in 2005, he rose to become the world champions’ head of race strategy for the past 14 years. But Courtenay will join title rival McLaren in a position reporting to its long-time racing director Randeep Singh as it aims to bolster its on-track racing operations.

“We are delighted to welcome Will to McLaren, said team principal Andrea Stella. «His experience, professionalism and passion for motorsport make him the ideal candidate to lead our F1 sporting function.

«We are now entering a key phase in our journey as a team, and we are confident that he will be a great addition to our strong leadership team as we strive to continue challenging for wins and championships.”

It is not yet clear when Courtenay will make the switch, with the Briton still contracted to Red Bull until mid-2026. A spokesperson for the team confirmed Courtenay would continue working for the team until that time.

“Will has been offered the position of Sporting Director,» the spokesperson said. «After a long and successful service, being with the team since the Jaguar days, we are sad to see him go but wish him all the best in this step up. Will continues to be part of the team seeing out his contract until mid 2026.»

Courtenay is the latest senior staff member set to leave Red Bull, with design guru Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin in March 2025. Meanwhile, sporting manager Jonathan Wheatley will take up the position of team principal at Sauber from next season.



Source link

McLaren was “taking the p**s” in Singapore GP, says Horner

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Norris was lapping comfortably a couple of seconds ahead of title rival Max Verstappen early on before there was a short team radio discussion where he explained that he was running at ‘pace six’.

His pit wall came back and said: “Ok, in which case we’d like to use a bit of that pace to try and get a five-second gap to Max, if possible, by the mid-teens.”

Norris duly pushed harder and, from being 2.6 seconds ahead at the end of lap eight, he had opened up the five-second advantage within three laps. His advantage over Verstappen in that critical stint was around one second per lap.

Red Bull could offer nothing in return and, by the time Verstappen pitted on lap 29, the Dutchman was 24.7 seconds adrift of the lead car.

That stunning form from Norris was an eye-opener from Horner in revealing the scale of McLaren’s advantage.

“Yeah, that was taking a piss…although I shouldn’t say that in any official capacity,” he said, making a joke about the swearing controversy that erupted over the Singapore weekend.

“The pace he had in hand on that tyre at that point in time was…at that point, we’ve conceded the race on pace.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, 1st position, takes the chequered flag

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, 1st position, takes the chequered flag

Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images

“Obviously, he [Norris] touched the wall for the first time, then he touched it for the second time. But, obviously, they’ve got away with it.

“I actually think Max drove a very strong race. That was what we had, which when you consider where we were a couple of weeks ago, I think we have made some real progress. But obviously, we’ve got a lot of work to do before Austin.”

While the first stint was demoralising for Red Bull, Horner says that the team takes away some encouragement from how similar the pace of his car and the McLaren were on the hard tyres that teams switched to for the run to the flag.

“On the first stint they were very quick,” he said. “I think on the hard tyre we looked in better shape, but of course, the gap is way too big by then, at a track that anyway is very hard to overtake.”

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has revealed, however, that the gaps between the cars on the hard may not be truly representative because his squad had instructed Norris to back off and bring the car home.

“In fairness, in the second part of the second stint, our attention was drawn on the fact that as soon as you got behind the backmarkers, the car started to feel tricky,” he explained.

“So, it was all about no issues, no mistakes, no lock-ups. We had seen already in practice that as soon as you are behind a slow car, things look like there’s something wrong with the car: it’s just the effect of the dirty air.

“The focus was entirely on bringing the car home. We suggested to Lando to have an attempt at the fastest lap, which he achieved. But after that, we didn’t want to talk about fastest lap anymore.”



Source link

Ricciardo can reflect on F1 career «anyone could dream of»

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Max Verstappen has praised Daniel Ricciardo as the Australian prepares to learn whether he will remain in Formula 1 for next season.

Red Bull is expected to make a decision on whether Ricciardo, 35, will be retained by its sister team RB for next season and continue to partner Yuki Tsunoda.

Liam Lawson is also in contention for the seat after he impressed filling in for Ricciardo last year when he was ruled out with a broken wrist.

Ricciardo is understood to have the full support of Red Bull boss Christian Horner. However, the Australian has been unable to repay that faith with performances on track.

When asked about the predicament Ricciardo now faces, Verstappen gave a cryptic response that sounded vaguely like a goodbye speech for the eight-time GP winner.

Speaking on Thursday in Singapore about the driver he spent three years racing alongside at Red Bull in 2016-18, he said: «Daniel is a great guy, I think he has proven himself as a great Formula 1 driver.

«He’s a friend of mine. And being in this kind of position is never nice.

«But on the other end, I don’t think he has to feel sorry for himself.

Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team

Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

«Sometimes things maybe don’t work out the way you want them in certain stages of your career, but you still have achieved a lot more than anyone could ever dream of in their lives.

«So even if this is, let’s say, the last race or whatever, you can still look back at something amazing that not many people can achieve and do something else.

«I mean, why not? [There are] many more race series or not. Maybe just chill back at the farm, have a lot of fun.

«He’s a great guy. So for me, it doesn’t really matter or not if you deserve to be here. A lot of people deserve to be here.

«Some don’t deserve to be here, that’s life in all kinds of sports. It’s how it goes.»

Read Also:

Meanwhile Ricciardo has said he has been unable to show his true potential in races since he returned to F1 with RB after being let go after a disappointing run at McLaren.

He said: «I don’t wish to be in the middle, for sure. But obviously, I look back at my year and yes, if you asked me in January, ‘how do you think a year is going to go?’ I would have said, ‘I expect it to have gone better than this’.

«But it’s not through, lack of anything really, I really felt like I put everything into it this year.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

«And, okay, sometimes the result doesn’t come out the way you wish or hope or doesn’t always translate to maybe the effort you put in. But that’s sport.

«I’m always going to look myself in the mirror and try to be as critical as possible. And I wish I’d found some more consistency this year.

«But honestly, getting back into the sport after the McLaren period, I was more just looking for speed and proving to myself that I could still run at the front with these guys.

«And there have been moments of that.

«Obviously, I wish I could produce it every weekend, but if I take a little bit of heat away from myself, I think it’s also hard to do in a midfield battle.»



Source link

Red Bull must now «attack» after dropped points

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted the reigning Formula 1 constructors’ championship-winning outfit must now «attack» after being leapfrogged by McLaren.

Oscar Piastri’s victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, along with Lando Norris’ recovery from 15th on the grid to fourth, Sergio Perez’s late-race tangle with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen’s uncharacteristic weekend of struggles saw Red Bull fall from the top of the standings for the first time since the 2022 Miami Grand Prix.

Norris also closed in on Verstappen in the drivers’ title hunt, albeit by only three points, to add to gains made in the Netherlands and Italy, with Red Bull now facing the need to turn around its form after three weekends of car struggles.

Read Also:

Horner pointed to the damage limitation, explaining: «If you look at it before the weekend, based on where we were in Monza, what has he [Norris] taken, three points off him [Verstappen]?»

However, he conceded: «It’s frustrating, particularly after where Lando qualified, that we didn’t beat him, but thankfully he hasn’t scored big points. But we’ve got to build on what we’ve learned already and there’s still a lot of racing to do.

«We took a big hit in the constructors’, but we’ve got 20 points as deficit now, so we’ve got to attack. Still got seven races to go, two sprint races to go. There’s a lot of points up for grabs and a lot of different circuits coming up, so it’s far from over.»

Verstappen’s lack of cohesion with his RB20 was evidenced by Perez outqualifying his team-mate for the first time since Miami last year.

The Mexican displayed his best form of the season to challenge Piastri and Charles Leclerc but, when Sainz joined the battle for the lead as his Ferrari team-mate faltered on quickly degrading hard tyres, team play came to hurt Perez.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

A move to the outside of Leclerc at Turn 1 saw the Monegasque leave Perez high and dry, allowing Sainz to scamper through. But as the duo came out of Turn 3 side by side, both chasing the tow from Leclerc, they tangled, with both cars left with extensive damage in the wall.

«Frustrating, because with Checo, he certainly should have been on the podium at the very least in third place, probably second,» said Horner when commenting on Perez’s race.

«I think actually he could have won that race, had it not been for… he lost a lot of time behind Alex Albon initially and then Lando whilst he was on new tyres and Oscar was still out on the old tyres.

«Lando backed him up, which allowed Oscar to keep track position and I think without that, we would have been ahead of Oscar and he would have passed Leclerc and he would have been fine, so hugely frustrating.»

On the incident itself, Horner added: «You can quite clearly see that Carlos, if you take the wall as a reference and the white line on the right-hand side of the track, you see him look in his mirror and just drift to the left, knowing that he was there, and Checo doesn’t move left or right, so hugely frustrating to lose that.»



Source link

Verstappen handed warning for VSC incident in Azerbaijan GP

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Max Verstappen has avoided punishment for overtaking under a virtual safety car after the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

The world champion and several other F1 drivers were investigated for overtaking under virtual safety car conditions after the finish of a thrilling race in Baku.

The VSC came out for a crash on the penultimate lap between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz, who tangled on the run down to Turn 3.

Their accident littered debris at that part of the track which drivers had to weave through, while the clash also brought out the medical car as a precaution.

The circuit-wide VSC situation, which prohibits any overtaking, stayed in force until after the chequered flag, when Red Bull driver Verstappen was seen passing Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren driver Lando Norris on the main straight before entering the pits, sticking his thumb out to congratulate Norris on coming out on top of their battle.

The Dutchman, however, was then summoned by the stewards, as were Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine duo Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.

The quartet were all given a warning, with Verstappen’s stewards review explaining: «The driver overtook other cars after the chequered flag, but while a VSC was still being displayed, following the crash at Turn 2.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

«The driver was reminded that while passing after the chequered flag is not unusual, it is prohibited in the case of yellows, safety care or virtual safety car procedures.

«While the drivers were aware of where the incident was, they could not have known if emergency equipment or marshals were being dispatched onto the track, and so have to proceed with caution.

«The Stewards are aware that this happened earlier this season and was not noticed at the time. We are therefore warning the driver concerned, along with all other competitors. Further breaches may incur significant penalties.»

Speaking ahead of the stewards’ investigation, Verstappen said he was surprised to have been called in front of them.

«I don’t know. I did everything correct. I crossed the line, finish line, all good. Chequered flag. I think on the in-lap, you know, end of the race, there are many examples before where it was the same, virtual safety car, safety car,» he said.

Read Also:

«You drive in and on the in-lap, you know, people are passing each other slowly or wave, well done, stuff like that. That’s what I did. So I’m a bit surprised.»

A punishment would have rounded off another disappointing weekend for Verstappen, the reigning champion having finished fifth as he was one of several drivers to benefit from Leclerc and Sainz’s crash.

His lead at the top of the championship has been cut to 59 points and McLaren has moved ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.



Source link

Perez will support Verstappen if team orders issued in Baku

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Red Bull boss Christian Horner insists that team orders between his two drivers are clear and that Sergio Perez «knows 100%» that he will be playing a support role to Max Verstappen this season.

Confusion still reigns over McLaren’s own ‘Papaya Rules’ and just how and when Oscar Piastri will aid Lando Norris in his bid to overhaul the 62-point gap to Verstappen at the top of the drivers’ standings.

Heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend, Piastri has said he will help Norris if the opportunity calls for it, but Horner is happy that Perez understands his position at Red Bull.

The Mexican has struggled this season and there was speculation he would be dropped during the summer break, only to be retained for the rest of the year.

Perez famously played a rear-gunner role at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021 when Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the title in the most controversial of circumstances – and Horner expects similar this year.

«It depends where the others are,» he told Sky Sports F1 when asked if Red Bull would instigate team orders to put Verstappen in front of Perez.

«Team orders are always a contentious subject, but Checo knows 100% what his role and job is – to support Max to the end of this championship – and obviously the constructors’.

«We have seen him, you only have to think back to Abu Dhabi 2021 to see what a team player Checo is, so for us, the game plan is pretty straightforward. I would love that headache to be managing on the last few laps!»

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

McLaren has been closing the gap to Red Bull in the constructors’ standings as both Piastri and Norris have been scoring high in recent races, while Verstappen has been fighting solo as Perez has been off the pace.

However, Baku has been one of Perez’s happier hunting grounds in recent years and he has enjoyed more success in the Azeri capital than any other driver.

«I have no idea,» Horner conceded when asked just why Perez shines around the streets of Baku.

«It makes no logical sense in that it is high-speed straights with barriers, 90-degree corners, but he has always been magic around here. If he had a 24-race championship in Azerbaijan he would be pretty tough to beat. It is important to carry that momentum into the race.»

Perez’s own form has been under the spotlight given the gap in performance to Verstappen, however, both Red Bulls struggled at the Italian Grand Prix a fortnight ago.

Verstappen’s own struggles highlighted that Red Bull has suffered a drop-off in pace and Horner feels that gave Perez new belief as it proved the issues were not down to his own performance.

«He has been walking a half-inch taller after that, it was sort of ‘look it is not just me’, and I think psychologically for him it has really lifted him – and there are a couple of tracks, we always knew that theoretically this track and Singapore should be two of his better circuits, and hopefully he can have a strong weekend.»

Perez was seventh fastest in FP3 ahead of qualifying on Saturday afternoon, while Verstappen was up in fifth, 0.348s behind pacesetter George Russell.

Read Also:



Source link

I could think about driving a Newey-designed Aston Martin

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Max Verstappen has refused to rule out an Adrian Newey reunion at Aston Martin in the future.

Design guru Newey was behind the Red Bull cars that delivered Verstappen’s three drivers’ championships, but his departure was confirmed earlier in the year and he has now signed for Aston.

He will take on the role of technical managing partner from next year, signing a deal worth a reported £ 30 million annually with the 65-year-old tasked with taking Aston Martin from also-rans to champions.

Verstappen clearly rued Newey’s impending exit when it was initially confirmed and now his next destination has been revealed, the Dutchman was asked about one day driving a Newey-designed car once again.

“I have other worries at the moment that I’m paying a lot of attention to and I’m working on that,” he replied when it was put to him that Aston boss Mike Krack had said the door would be open to Verstappen to join the Silverstone-based squad.

“That is something maybe for the future that I think about, not now.

“Adrian and I, we have a very good understanding. I sent him also a message after the news came out, even though, of course, I knew that it was coming. So I’m happy for him.

Adrian Newey, Aston Martin Formula One Team

Adrian Newey, Aston Martin Formula One Team

Photo by: Aston Martin Racing

“It’s a new challenge, of course, I always said I would have loved him to stay. But at one point you can’t overturn these things. So, then you’re just excited for people seeking new challenges.

“I also know that Lawrence (Stroll), of course, is pushing flat out to make it a success with Aston Martin, so it’s quite understandable, of course, that he wants to have Adrian on his side.”

The hook of working with a team headed up by Newey has proved enough to attract some of the best drivers across Formula 1 for the last three decades.

Verstappen believes that could still be the case from 2026, when the first telling input from Newey will be tested under the new regulations.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I’ve worked with him so I know how he is as a person, and also what he can do. I think everyone would like to work with Adrian, I guess in their career. So potentially yes,” he added.

Newey’s announcement was just one of the subjects up for discussion as the drivers arrived in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend, with McLaren’s introduction of team orders also a hot topic.

But, aside from offering his take on Newey’s new role, Verstappen was crystal clear that he was drowning out the noise in an attempt to get his ailing title bid back on track.

After struggling to a sixth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix last time out, Verstappen once again bemoaned the lack of performance in his Red Bull and claimed their recent form meant defending both the drivers and constructors title had become an “unrealistic” ambition.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Now he is in Baku and swatted aside a lot of the questions posed by journalists looking to get the three-time champion’s take on the latest goings on in the paddock.

He cited “other worries” and how he must be “better myself” to a number of questions, including whether Mercedes and Ferrari emerging to take points off Norris and McLaren can help him in the title scrap.

He bemoaned his “own problems” when asked for his take on McLaren changing their Papaya Rules to back Norris as he looks to close the 62-point gap to Verstappen at the top of the standings.

“We still have a lot of work to do but I do think that in a way Monza is positive to learn more about the car, basically,” he said as he went on to open up on the recent issues plaguing Red Bull.

“Now it just takes time to make the car better, to understand our weaknesses, which I think we did. Now it’s about just trying to find solutions for it. I also noted that it’s not coming within one or two weeks, from when you understand your problems.

“But I hope that from now onwards we can just look ahead and try to be better — and not like in Monza.”



Source link