Christian Horner faced a straightforward question during Bahrain testing: Is this really a new Red Bull car? While the RB21 might look similar to last year’s RB20 on the outside, there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface.
Technical director Pierre Waché cleared things up.
“I think it’s more different than what we saw between RB19 and RB20 in terms of characteristic,” Waché told The Race. “After the end of the season of the RB19, there was an evolution. The shape [of the RB20] was massively different, but it was the same concept type. Now, clearly, the way we extract the speed, the characteristic of the car, is quite different.”
The team is still figuring out exactly how to set up their new machine.
What’s interesting is that these changes give Red Bull more flexibility with the car’s balance. “What it gives us is a little bit more option to rebalance it. It is taking more time to understand what is your best option, and I think that is the process we are in at the moment,” Waché explained.
Everyone’s expecting an incredibly tight field for the season opener in Melbourne.
Waché seems to share that view, and while he’s not sure about the RB21’s full potential yet, he did make a surprising admission about their current pace.
“At the moment it doesn’t look like we are quick enough, but after we will see. It looks like McLaren and Ferrari are quicker.”
Could Red Bull’s dominance finally be under serious threat this season?
