Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has revealed the one big weakness of the RB21 that might give McLaren the advantage in Bahrain.
Zak Brown and Max Verstappen (via Planetf1)
Red Bull and Max Verstappen placed himself in the championship conversation with a dominant win at the Japanese Grand Prix last Sunday. Despite the RB21 being slower than the McLaren’s of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, he was able to find an edge on the track. The lower tire degradation in the newly repaved Suzuka circuit helped him in his cause.
This result put Max Verstappen P2 in the championship table with just one point ahead of Lando Norris at the top. Going into this weekend’s race at Bahrain, Verstappen has some concerns about his car owing to his experience at the Australian GP. Tire degradation is a serious issue for them and when asked about it the Dutchman admitted that high tire deg and overheating are RB21’s weakness.
It will be more severe, I mean in the first stint in Australia, we got destroyed with the overheating and tyre deg in general, the same in China and I would say to a certain extent in Suzuka.
Max Verstappen said via RacingNews365.
He was able to get away with it at Suzuka, as the temperature was down on Sunday, limiting the deg and not giving his rival Lando Norris the chance to pass him on the track with the fastest car. Max Verstappen admitted that if the temperature didn’t go down, he might have been in trouble.
But you couldn’t pass, and Lando was closing up at the end of the first stint, and I knew that was coming but I was just driving to my own pace, but the track temp dropped quite a bit on the day and that helped a bit.
Max Verstappen added.
He seems to be highlighting the same points made by George Russell at Suzuka last weekend, as he predicted McLaren dominance at the Bahrain owing to the hot temperature. Verstappen talking about the race admitted that the aggressive tarmac will give McLaren the advantage and he urged Red Bull to find resolution for the issue.
Of course, it is going to be hot here, we drive a night so it cools down a bit, but it is still hot with an aggressive tarmac, so on paper from what we’ve seen so far this season, that’s not ideal for us compared to McLaren. But it is up to us to try and find those improvements in the car and tyre behaviour.
Max Verstappen asserted.
Helmut Marko reveals the date for Max Verstappen’s child’s birth
The improvement in performance isn’t the only thing that is keeping max Verstappen with a positive attitude at the moment. He is set to become a father, with his partner Kelly Piquet set to deliver their first child together in the summer.
Since the pregnancy announcement was made back in late 2024, some fans were concerned about Verstappen missing either the birth or a Grand Prix to be with his girlfriend. Now Red Bull’s Helmut Marko has addressed the situation and conformed that the birth of the Dutchman’s child wont overlap with any racing schedule.
The date of birth does not overlap with any of Max’s racing activities and is scheduled for early May.
Helmut Marko said.
The comments from Marko are positive for the racer as well, as he will have enough time and peace to prepare for the life changing moment. It will be interesting to see how everything will playout for the reigning F1 world champion.
