According to Max Verstappen, the Red Bull Racing car is still too heavy. After the sprint race he won in Spielberg, the Dutchman indicated that the weight of the RB18 was the cause of the speed difference between his qualifying and race.
Verstappen, 24-year-old, took pole position for the first time in a completely dry qualifying at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on Friday. The speed over one lap appears to be one of the few weak spots of Verstappen’s car this season.
Although Verstappen did take pole for the sprint race on Friday, there is still a lot to improve on in his car at that point. “We are still not great in qualifying,” Verstappen said at the press conference.
“We are still a bit too heavy. You notice that especially when there is little fuel in the tank, as is the case in qualifying. That also explains why it often goes better in the race. You don’t have to go so fast “As in qualifying. With a full tank it makes a little less difference that you have a heavy car. So it is important that we still lose weight. We are working hard on that at the moment.”
This year, due to the new regulations, it is a major challenge for the teams to get the cars to the desired minimum weight of 798 kilos. At the beginning of this year, Red Bull CEO Helmut Marko had already indicated that the RB18 was still about 10 kilos too heavy. It is unclear how many kilos overweight the Red Bull is now.
‘Updates are not built specifically around me’
Verstappen also commented on statements by teammate Sergio Pérez at the press conference. The Mexican recently indicated that he no longer feels completely comfortable in the RB18, because the improvements made to the car would not suit his driving style.
According to Verstappen, the car has not been developed specifically to his wishes – as Pérez more or less suggests. “We’re just trying to make the car faster in general,” said Verstappen.
“And how exactly they do that, we drivers just have to adapt to that. And that is exactly what I do. Of course I indicate what feels good about the car for me, but the updates are not especially around me built. It’s all about sheer speed.”
Thanks to his victory in the sprint race, Verstappen can start from pole at the Grand Prix of Austria on Sunday. Pérez drove a strong catch-up race and fought his way from thirteenth to fifth place in a short time. The Austrian Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 3 p.m.