Source: REUTERS/Issei Kato
[Saba Sports News] Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan made a shocking statement at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, publicly admitting for the first time that the RB21 car has significant handling difficulties. Data shows that the RB21 car’s tendency to oversteer in high-speed corners has worsened by 23% compared to its predecessor, which is the deep reason for Liam Lawson being replaced after only two races. In response, Monaghan said that last year’s RB20 car was as stable as a brick but lacked extreme speed; now, we have unlocked the speed but sacrificed controllability. What’s more astonishing is that, according to internal simulations from the Red Bull team, Max Verstappen makes 47% fewer steering corrections than his teammate when cornering, always finding that one percent balance point, a car control ability that is almost instinctive and has surprised the engineers. In response, some fans pointed out that the Red Bull team is in a dilemma: if they compromise aerodynamic design for stability, they may never catch up with the McLaren team; if they insist on the current concept, the performance of the second driver may continue to be unsatisfactory.