15/07/2024
NEWS STORY
Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache insists that, despite the intense pressure as rivals close in, there is no need to press the panic button.
Five races into the season it looked likely that 2024 was to be a repeat of 2023. Granted, Max Verstappen's brake issue in Australia had allowed Carlos Sainz to claim victory, but for the most part, having claimed 1-2s in three of the opening four races, Red Bull looked to be as dominant as it had been last year.
While the Austrian team recovered from the shock of losing out to McLaren in Miami, Charles Leclerc scored a popular win in Monaco.
Though the record books show back-to-back wins in Canada and Spain, it was clear that Red Bull was under pressure, and while Ferrari has appeared to lose its way following the introduction of its recent upgrade and McLaren screwed up strategically at Silverstone, Mercedes claimed back-to-back victories courtesy of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Suddenly neither title is clear cut and with an underperforming Sergio Perez the Austrian team is in trouble.
"It's very simple," Wache tells De Telegraaf, "in previous weeks we have not always been dominant. But there's no point in pressing the panic button.
"Panicking is not the right attitude," he continues. "We are working with 300 engineers and if you're changing your mind every five minutes, that's the wrong way.
"It's true that the others have moved closer and we have to come up with updates, which can ensure that we get an edge again," he admits. "To be quite honest, at the beginning of this season the other teams were not as close as we expected.
"But it seems that the development of, certainly McLaren, and in certain areas also that of Mercedes, has been successful. McLaren has taken a giant step forward since Miami at the beginning of May.
"The regulations have been the same for a few years now," he explains, "and there are a lot of restrictions, so we put in a lot of work for only small margins. We have definitely taken risks, and yes, that means you can also screw up completely. But Formula 1 is such a competitive environment, and standing still is going backwards.
"I definitely think we can continue to develop this car and find quite a bit of performance in the near future," he insists. "You can think up and develop all kinds of things, which sometimes takes months, but once on the track it's about whether such a component brings us what we're expecting, and if the driver feels it and he can use that.
"I look at it in two ways," he says. "Operationally, in the short term, asking how we can make the car perform in the best possible way. And then in the factory looking at the longer term.
"It is very important that we see that it gives us lap time, because that affects our plans for the future."
The Frenchman dismisses that the solution to all ills is "more grip, less drag, more power".
"Anyone can think that," he says, "but Max is very specific in his input. Max is very clear and I like that. We can think of all sorts of things, but it's the driver who has to deal with it.
"His race engineer Gianpiero translates that back to us so we can try to incorporate that into a physical part, what exactly he needs during a particular moment in a corner, and in which areas he feels less comfortable."
The weather conditions at Silverstone meant the Austrian team was unable to assess the revised floor it introduced - a situation not helped by Verstappen going off and damaging it.
However, the world champions are aiming to make progress in the double header that precedes the summer break.