F1 News: Red Bull Insider Reveals Issue Behind Max Verstappen's Lack of Pace That Links to Mercedes

Technical hurdles around simulator accuracy are frustrating both Red Bull and Mercedes.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 24, 2024 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. / Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

At Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen's unexpected struggle at Monaco has been linked to broader issues faced by the team, mirroring challenges at Mercedes, as exposed by consultant Helmut Marko. A core problem in both camps is the mismatch between simulator predictions and actual race track performance.

Both powerhouse teams in Formula 1, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, have hit a common stumbling block early in the season: discrepancies between their highly sophisticated simulators and real-world track data. For Red Bull, this came to light, particularly during the Monaco Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen, the team's leading driver, disappointingly hit the wall at Turn 1 during his last lap in Q3, failing to secure pole position—a scenario Red Bull didn't anticipate at the outset of what was expected to be another successful season.

Helmut Marko, a key decision-maker at Red Bull Racing, elaborated on the underlying issues on the Sky Germany Broadcast.

"The season started with the idea that it would be a great success. And then there was the first disappointment in Australia. But the fundamental problem is not the tracks. It is that the correlation between the simulator and the track does not work. In the simulator we drive over the curbs without any problems," said Marko. "And to use an expression from Max, the car bounces like a kangaroo, and that is the problem. And that has already been shown in the set-up for Miami and partly in Imola.

"So we have to start with that. But we have to ensure that when we get to real circuits, such as Barcelona, ​that we hopefully regain our old form there."

Mercedes’ experience has paralleled that of Red Bull, albeit with some unique challenges. The team came into the season hopeful after a positive showing in Bahrain but soon faced realities on the track that diverged significantly from their simulated expectations. Toto Wolff, chief of the Brackley outfit, described the setback during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were notably outpaced.

"It's just the high-speed variant where we are losing the lap time. There is only so much you can tune here. Our simulations point us in a direction, and this is the kind of set-up range that we then choose," Wolff explained. "You put the rear wing on, and I think you gain a few tenths or not if you get the set-up right or wrong. But there's not a massive corridor of performance.

"It's a more fundamental thing that we believe the speed should be there. And we measure the downforce, but we don't find it on the lap time."