Red Bull plans to continue experiments with a hybrid version of its old floor at Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix.
As the world champion squad seeks to answer why its RB20 has lost competitiveness compared to closest rivals McLaren and Mercedes, it has been evaluating whether the upgraded floor it introduced at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May was the trigger for its problems.
In a bid to get to the bottom of matters, it fitted Max Verstappen’s car with an alternative floor version at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.
This was based on the pre-Imola design that had won four of the first five races of the season.
However, it also incorporated elements of design improvements that have been introduced since then, which the team knows definitely work.
The mish-mash of old and new elements has led to this version being informally described by one insider as a ‘Franken-floor’ – in reference to Frankenstein’s monster that was made up from different body parts.
Verstappen raced with this design at the Dutch Grand Prix, but mixed weather conditions throughout the weekend meant it difficult to get a proper gauge on how it performed relative to the newer version that was run by Sergio Perez.
Red Bull plans again to split the configurations at Monza in a bid to get a better understanding of whether the new floor is the real cause of the RB20’s balance issues.
Speaking about the team’s understanding of the situation, Verstappen said: “The problem is that in Zandvoort with the wind and the rain it was very difficult to get a bit of a read.
“But again, [it is] a different weekend now. Of course, besides the stuff that we want to try in the car, the track is quite different. So, we also need to keep track on that to make the right calls.
“But yeah, we're trying a lot of stuff to try and improve the balance of the car.”
While Red Bull’s experiments are aimed at getting answers on the balance differences between the old and new floor, Verstappen has no doubts that the latest version is faster.
Asked how he felt Red Bull would fare if it went back to the specification that he dominated the Chinese Grand Prix with, the Dutchman said: “I don't think it will be faster, just that other teams, of course, they have been upgrading the car really well.
“So, for us to, let's say, downgrading the car for a better balance, it's not necessarily faster.”
Verstappen said that the critical improvement that was needed was getting the car back in a better balance window.
“I mean, we know the balance problems, and now it's up to us to try and make the cars just better to drive and more competitive,” he added.
“I think we are understanding where we need to find stuff and what we see in the wind tunnel, what we see from CFD. That is not the problem.”
The Newey factor
Red Bull’s fall from form has coincided with the news that design genius Adrian Newey will be leaving the team at the start of next year.
Although he officially remains part of the operation, Newey has been removed from technical input – which some have suggested could be linked to the performance problems.
Asked if there was any link between the struggles and Newey’s exit, Verstappen said: “Normally not. It's just since it was announced that he was leaving, it's been more difficult.
“But I mean it shouldn't matter if someone is, let’s say, leaving on the spot, that immediately the performance drops, because the car has always been the same.”
