In 2024, the tension in Formula 1 has escalated within a matter of weeks. In the season that began as a relaxed show for Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari are now more than just in the mix. In Miami, Verstappen was defeated by Norris, and in Imola he narrowly saved the race victory from the Briton. In Monaco, Charles Leclerc set the tone in the Ferrari, while Red Bull had no chance.
The next challenge awaits the Bulls at the Canadian GP. Although the 4.3-kilometer-long power circuit in Montreal at first glance has little in common with the one in Monte Carlo, the two tracks do share some characteristics. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is also a street circuit with short bends, chicanes and a few slow corners. But above all, it has high kerbs that often have to be driven over.
Perez is looking forward to the Canada Challenge: Not our strongest track
“It’s great that we immediately have a similar challenge in many areas as in Monaco,” says Sergio Perez, who signed a contract extension just a few days ago, looking forward to the upcoming weekend with great enthusiasm. However, he doubts whether it will be a successful one: “I expect that we [im Vergleich zu Monaco] a bit faster. But I don’t think it’s one of our strongest tracks.”
The kerbs are a fundamental problem for the RB20. In Monaco, they made the car difficult to control and caused it to jump. “Like a kangaroo,” is how Red Bull motorsport consultants described Dr. Helmut Marko examined the car’s handling two weeks ago. The simulations in Milton Keynes did not take the deficit of their car into account quite so much, which is why the world champion team was surprised by it on the race weekend.
Max Verstappen saw his car’s performance in Monaco as a wake-up call: “This has been a problem since day one of these new regulations and it was something we had not yet been able to solve.” Now special attention will be paid to discovering these solutions.
Red Bull has tried to alleviate the symptoms over the past two weeks through additional analyses and specific work on this problem. However, the time frame was obviously too short to be able to offer technical solutions to the problem.
Will the rain save Max Verstappen’s role as favourite?
Perez is certain: “It won’t be as extreme as in Monaco.” However, he adds: “But of course it is a track where you drive a lot on the kerbs. So I expect that we will suffer a bit in that respect.”
Red Bull does not want to give up on the fight for victory, however. Help could come from above. As is often the case on a Formula 1 weekend in Montreal, rain is a constant companion. Rain is not only possible on all three days, but from today’s perspective even likely. That could mask Red Bull’s problems. But Verstappen does not want to appeal to the rain gods. “To be honest, I don’t care. Whether it’s dry or wet, it’s fine,” says the world championship leader unconcerned.