EXCLUSIVE: Red Bull technical director reveals critical area where RB19 can be 'damaged'

Max Verstappen chats to an engineer in the Red Bull garage — Photo: © LAT Images

GPFans Exclusive

EXCLUSIVE: Red Bull technical director reveals critical area where RB19 can be 'damaged'

Pierre Waché explains how the team plan to improve an already dominant car for next year

Lauren Sneath

Tuesday 19 September 2023 12:57

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Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché has revealed to GPFans the most important point for improvement on the RB19, after it has proved to be almost untouchable this season.

Of the 15 races contested so far this season, Red Bull managed to win the first 14 consecutively, with Max Verstappen taking 12 victories and Sergio Perez two.

That came to an abrupt end in Singapore on Sunday. The Milton Keynes outfit had great difficulty finding the right settings for the RB19 on Friday and Saturday, meaning Verstappen and Perez had to settle for fifth and eighth place respectively at Marina Bay.

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Nevertheless, it is only a matter of time before the team seal the constructors' title, with seven races to go and a 308-point lead over Mercedes.

Difficult to assess

It is therefore clear that the RB19 – despite its poor performance in Singapore – is still by far the best car on the grid.

But Waché found it difficult to say in Monza whether it is the best car ever to emerge from the Red Bull factory.

Max Verstappen's victories have been numerous this season

In an exclusive interview during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, he said: "It has been a very competitive car since the start of the season, I think that is the big difference with previous Red Bull cars.

"Is it the best of them all? I don't know. It's very difficult to judge, but we started the season very strongly compared to other Red Bull cars."

Low speed circuit downfall

During the Mercedes era between 2014 and 2021, it was often a trend at Red Bull that the car did not start extremely well, but that the gap was reduced during the season through further development of the car.

Although that problem has now been tackled, Waché still sees an important area for improvement for 2024 – something that was also confirmed in practice after last Sunday.