Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

RB21 performance surge explained: 'I don’t mean to contradict Max'

13:46, 29 Oct

byTobia Elia

Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan highlighted the progress made on the RB21 in recent races — and how Max Verstappen has played a key role within the team.

“It took us a couple of steps to really get to that and not just take a load of downforce out of the car”

- Paul Monaghan

When it was pointed out that Verstappen had said the RB21’s potential was already there before the Monza breakthrough, but struggled to extract it consistently, Monaghan replied: “I think there are many things coming together, and I don't mean to contradict Max — I don't know exactly what he has said.

“A lot of work went in, even from the very early races of this season, to try and give ourselves a better car. We thought we'd identified what was wrong, and it took us a couple of steps to really get to that and not just take a load of downforce out of the car.”

According to Monaghan, the performance turnaround after Monza wasn’t down to one or two factors, but rather a combination of many elements coming together at the right time — allowing the RB21 to finally unlock its full potential.

Max Verstappen in Mexico - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

“The combination of things as we arrived towards Monza was that the car has been a lot better, but I wouldn't have said it's one thing in isolation — it's not a one or two set of items, it's not necessarily some bodywork geometries. Many things happened in the right order.”

Finally, the Milton Keynes team’s chief engineer praised Verstappen’s fighting spirit, noting that even during a large part of the season when he didn’t have the strongest car, he kept pushing the team forward.

“This year’s challenged him in a different way, because we’re not presenting with a car that was necessarily quick enough at all the events. But he was always of the view that the team is in it, therefore he’s in it, and he will help and contribute as much as he can to help pull us out of it.

“He’s an extraordinary driver — and that is in and out of the car. He’s one of those mercurial ones that can help pull the team together. Not the sole part of it, but he’s a very big part of it. And it’s just nice that we’ve got him.”

Marko speechless over Verstappen’s Mexico stint

Unlike his dominant win in Austin, the four-time world champion couldn’t replicate the same result in Mexico, falling to the superiority of a once-again dominant McLaren MCL39 in the hands of Lando Norris.

After struggling in the opening stint on mediums, Verstappen delivered an exceptionally strong run on the soft tyres, closing in on Leclerc for second place and only being denied by the late Virtual Safety Car.

It was a stint that even took Helmut Marko by surprise — and he didn’t miss the chance to point it out.

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