Red Bull Racing have to somehow protect an eight-point lead in the Constructors’ Championship over the final eight Formula 1 race weekends.
Having such a small lead at this stage of the season would have been unthinkable for Red Bull just a few months ago.
Given Max Verstappen’s utter dominance of the 2023 season, even with Sergio Perez not hitting the expected heights, they would have expected to still be at the front of the grid this year.
Instead, they’ve slowly watched McLaren surpass them and at the Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes and Ferrari were a step ahead of them as well.
Verstappen was incredibly frustrated with his car and the difference between his lap times in Q2 and Q3 highlighted how temperamental the RB20 is.
Speaking after the race in Monza via Formu1a.uno, team principal Christian Horner addressed the problems Red Bull are discovering with the car.
Races are coming thick and fast and although there was a month-long recess before the Dutch Grand Prix, no F1 team was allowed to work during the two-week summer break.
It means progress is going to be slow and fixing any problem means rolling back their most recent updates, meaning fewer upgrades will be added between now and the end of the season.
Christian Horner has ‘100%’ found the cause of Red Bull’s recent issues
Martin Brundle admitted something ‘strange’ is going on at Red Bull after the Monza weekend as few can believe that they’ve fallen so far down the pecking order so quickly off the back of one of the most impressive seasons in F1 history.
Talking about the problems his team are facing, Horner said: “It’s 100% the fault of the balance. We don’t have a balance between the front and the rear: Max can’t lean on the rear when entering corners, just like Checo
“So, you end up compromising, then you create understeer: it’s a very fine line.
“The recent updates, while loading the car, have disconnected the front and the rear. We see it, our wind tunnel doesn’t say it, but the track says it.”
Max Verstappen taking matters into his own hands at Red Bull
The turning point in the season was the Miami Grand Prix when Lando Norris won his maiden Grand Prix.
Since then, Perez hasn’t challenged for a podium finish once and only Verstappen’s individual talent has kept Red Bull in contention to win both championships.
However, Verstappen has made changes to his car that Red Bull’s factory wasn’t aware of this season which is a worrying disconnect between what’s going on in the garage and back at their facility in Milton Keynes.
Marko has denied Adrian Newey’s departure has had any impact on what’s going on this season and while that may be true, he’s also no longer working on their F1 project and can’t therefore offer any opinions on how to resolve their balance issues.
Verstappen and Perez face an uphill task in Baku and Singapore with neither street circuit expected to suit their cars.
They’ll have to hope that the three-week break before the race in Austin is enough time to work out exactly how to fix what’s happening
