[Saba Sports News] The five-day Barcelona test session has undoubtedly been a heavy blow for Red Bull Racing, as Max Verstappen only took part in one day of the tests. The main reason is the structural damage to the race car caused by his teammate Isack Hadjar’s crash, coupled with a shortage of key component stock, and disruptions to the testing schedule due to supply chain and repair lead times. On the surface, this incident seems to be an accident from a teammate’s crash, but behind it lie various pressures that the team is facing following the implementation of the new regulations. This year’s F1 has seen major changes to power units and chassis, putting all teams under intense testing schedules with very little room for error. Any accident can easily derail the entire plan. What’s more, Red Bull Racing appears to have a shortage of stock for key components, and there is still room for improvement in supply chain coordination. Otherwise, Verstappen would not have missed several days of testing opportunities due to delayed delivery of parts.
In the author’s opinion, however, the overall impact of this forced withdrawal on Red Bull Racing should not be too significant. After all, the team has already accumulated a wealth of reliable data in the early stages of the test session, and the necessary components have now arrived. As long as the make-up test can be carried out smoothly on the final day, the data gap can be compensated for as much as possible.