Red Bull arrived in Qatar with high expectations. But in F1, as we well know, everything is always very complicated. After securing Verstappen’s fourth world title, the last two races on the calendar are crucial for understanding the competitiveness level of the RB20 compared to the competition. Despite Max’s fantastic win in the Brazilian Grand Prix, the Milton Keynes team hasn’t been fighting for victory since the Austrian Grand Prix at the start of summer. However, mathematically, the hope of fighting for the Constructors’ title is still alive.
The Qatari track has confirmed that Sergio Perez is unable to escape the tunnel of mediocrity that he entered after a strong start to the season. The four-time world champion still makes a huge difference, but during shootout qualifying, it wasn’t enough to challenge for the top positions. His sixth-place finish in the Sprint qualifying, behind the McLaren and Ferrari drivers and George Russell’s Mercedes, reflects the current performance of the racing car. The Mexican was already “under the shower” after SQ1. It was a result that didn’t fuel hopes for the Sprint Race.
The weekend format allows for changes to the car setup before the afternoon qualifying session, because, at this point, it seems very unlikely that the freshly crowned four-time World Champion could achieve a better result than last night’s qualifying. The main concern is the technical stagnation observed this season. Without the rocket starts in the first five Grands Prix, Max Verstappen’s superb performances from Imola onward would have meant nothing.
Given these premises, the last year of regulatory continuity (next season) could become an ordeal, as no team will revolutionize its technical projects, since most of the human resources will be focused on the 2026 project. While the points secured by Jos’s son were enough to secure the drivers’ title with two races to spare, next year, the balance of power on the starting grid could be very different. For this reason, the next two races are a crucial test for Red Bull.
In an overall bleak technical picture, the only hope lies in the opportunity offered by the Sprint format: completely revising the RB20, which appeared competitive in the fast corners but struggled in other segments of the circuit. According to the driver from Hasselt, the qualifying result was due to the lack of pace caused by poor balance, which didn’t allow him to be aggressive on corner entry. This was his preliminary analysis based on the feedback he received while driving the car.
Max Verstappen admitted that the RB20 was not balanced and that his sixth-place finish might have been even better than the actual competitiveness of his F1 car. Naturally, the Dutch driver was disappointed with his performance, as the Losail track, at least on paper, should not have exposed the flaws of Adrian Newey’s latest creation. With the certainties or at least the hopes fading, Max explained that the Sprint Race would be complicated, and the target is to turn the weekend around with setup changes.
This must be done before the second qualifying session in the evening. The need to find the optimal operational window for the car is crucial. A lack of rotation combined with oversteer, much like what happened with the two Ferraris. For this reason, even in Red Bull’s case, we can say that the car’s working point with the tires seemed far from ideal. The RB20 didn’t have a sufficient target temperature to extract the proper grip. The car’s axles were therefore disconnected, a problem that has emerged in other competitive contexts.
Despite the adjustments that will be made, the driver from the Netherlands doesn’t expect miracles in what is turning out to be a very difficult weekend. On the other side of the garage, the situation is surreal. Perez, ahead of the Qatar race, claimed he was close to a breakthrough and felt positive progress. However, based on the timing, the good feelings from the Mexican driver are mere intentions with no backing in reality. According to Checo, he could have easily passed SQ1 if he hadn’t been caught in a pointless head-to-head with Leclerc on the main straight.
It’s an objectively weak and trivial excuse since there was plenty of time to set a better time to escape the last-row position. Despite another embarrassing qualifying result, the 34-year-old from Guadalajara seems to face no risk for his future in F1. This is despite the fact that, let’s be clear, he has been of little use to Red Bull’s cause. Before him, the Austrian team had never hesitated to get rid of drivers deemed not up to standard, even hastily. Apparently, that’s not his case…
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