Red Bull Acknowledges Challenging Task of Eliminating Kerb-Riding Weakness in 2024 Formula 1 Car
Red Bull has conceded that eradicating the kerb-riding weakness plaguing its 2024 car, which has hindered its competitiveness in several rounds this season, won’t be an easy feat. Despite their dominance under the latest ground effect regulations, with Max Verstappen claiming four victories in the opening six races, the competition has now closed in. Verstappen has been forced to work harder for wins at Imola, Canada, and Spain, while being beaten in Miami and Monaco.
The Austrian outfit’s advantage has been most threatened at circuits that require a car to absorb kerbs, with Verstappen finishing a distant sixth place in Monte Carlo. The Dutch driver revealed that this long-standing weakness has been exposed since the grid converged, and it will “take time” to discover a fix. Red Bull Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan agrees that there is no simple solution.
When asked about the difficulty of dialing out the issue in 2024, Monaghan said, “Ask me at the end of the season or the end of next season as well, and I’ll give you a realistic answer. It’s not impossible, I don’t know how to offer you an answer to say how difficult it is, if it was easy, we might have already done it, [but] it’s not going to be easy.”
Monaghan acknowledged that other cars also struggle with kerb-riding, saying, “The magnitude of the problem, I look at other cars, they don’t know how they ride the kerbs, if it hits something, it launches the thing in the air, and we do the same.” The challenge lies in making a big enough improvement to be quicker than their opposition.
Red Bull is not “resting” on its laurels despite boasting sizeable championship leads, as it aims to eliminate possible barriers to performance. Monaghan assured, “We intend to try and address any performance limitation in the car, so we don’t do one in deference to another.”
While Verstappen has managed to overcome Red Bull’s recent struggles to collect wins, team-mate Sergio Perez is encountering another slump in form. The Mexican has added a paltry eight points across the previous four rounds and attributed his poor eighth-place result in Spain last weekend to balance limitations.
When asked whether it was proving harder to provide the drivers with the balance desired, Monaghan replied, “Again, that’s going to be somewhat circuit-dependent, isn’t it?” Red Bull’s focus remains on achieving the best possible balance to overcome their performance limitations.
Formula 1 fans can expect Red Bull to continue pushing the rate of development to stay ahead of the competition. With the Hungarian and Austrian Grands Prix coming up, featuring circuits with kerbs, Red Bull will need to work hard to address their kerb-riding weakness.
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