F1: Red Bull engineer hints team now ready to tackle Singapore Grand Prix

Red Bull, Verstappen, Singapore — Photo: © LAT Images

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Red Bull engineer hints team now ready to tackle Singapore

Singapore was the only grand prix not won by a Red Bull driver in 2023

Cal Gaunt

Sunday 7 January 2024 17:57

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Ben Waterhouse, Red Bull's head of performance engineering, indicates a newfound readiness to tackle the Singapore Grand Prix, aiming for a stronger performance in 2024 following a challenging weekend last season.

In 2023, Singapore stood as the sole race won by a non-Red Bull driver due to struggles in optimising the RB19 car against competitors like Ferrari and Mercedes.

Now, Waterhouse has expressed confidence that the team have gleaned valuable insights last year, positioning them for a successful comeback at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz took victory at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix

Max Verstappen was unable to make the podium at the last Singapore Grand Prix

Lesson learned

“I think we suffered with instability, low-speed understeer and poor traction," he told Racecar Engineering Magazine. "As soon as you’re in that situation, you’re then struggling with tyre temperatures, and then any disturbance, whether it’s a gear shift, a bump... all these problems are compounded.

"And they are exacerbated by the fact the car’s not in the window where it needs to be.”

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“We didn’t do a good enough job in being prepared and getting the car in the right window quickly enough. And then I don’t think we reacted strongly enough at the time to be able to understand the problems.

"There were various reasons why we didn’t, but it’s what we’ve been through and have since debriefed in detail. So now we understand largely what happened, and I think we know what we would do differently.”

Red Bull Ferrari Mercedes Singapore Grand Prix