Yours: Perez doesn’t like the car’s reaction to his actions

Red Bull Racing Technical Director Pierre Vache spoke about the work of the latest range of new products, which have so far only been installed on Max Verstappen’s car, and the difficulties that Sergio Perez has experienced recently..

Q: This weekend the RB20 car looks a little different – ​​what can you say about the performance of technical innovations?
Pierre Vacher: I think the new hood looks cool! Of course, analyzing the effectiveness of a series of updates is a long process. We have already seen positive signals during the training sessions, but this is not enough to come to definitive conclusions. However, we are convinced that so far everything is going in the right direction.

Q: What are the team riders’ impressions?
Pierre Vacher: Since the configuration of the Hungaroring ring is very different from the circuits where the previous three races took place, it is difficult to make comparisons. Max Verstappen had questions about the balance of the car, but this is not surprising and we know what needs to be done to increase the speed. Some issues were not directly related to the complex of new products, but rather to the high temperatures and the performance of the rubber, but nothing serious.

Q: Rivals are gradually catching up with Red Bull – how much of a step forward do you expect to be able to make with this series of updates?
Pierre Vacher: Let’s see. We were planning to introduce part of this complex only after the summer holidays, but the core team members were able to increase the work pace, so there are already some new items ready, but only for one car. I think it is very important for us that, thanks to the efforts we made, they were produced three weeks earlier.

Q: How difficult is it to work on new products this season, given that the team may spend less time in the wind tunnel than your rivals?
Pierre Vacher: There are problems, but we can still modernize the machine, otherwise we would not have implemented updates. Of course, competitors are getting closer and closer, and the most important thing is that we are making more and more efforts to introduce new products as soon as possible.

But speed isn’t just about how much downforce we can increase – it’s also about whether the driver can unleash the car’s potential and how the updates affect the overall balance of the chassis. In general, we’re dealing with all of those issues too, and there’s still work to be done.

Q: It has been suggested that the new body panels you presented in Hungary were developed taking into account the characteristics of this circuit, and in the next races you may be able to return to the previous specification. Is that so?
Pierre Vacher: Yes, that possibility exists. During training we have tested the effectiveness of new products and gathered information based on which we can make exactly such a decision later when the cooling requirements of the car are lower, but we do not know that yet.

Q: Sergio Perez has scored just 15 points in the previous six races. What do you think is the reason for the difficulties he has been experiencing recently?
Pierre Vacher: If I knew the reason, I would fix everything. It’s hard to say. But I think we have to take some responsibility, that’s for sure. So we have to try to help him realize the potential of the machine. I know his impressions of the RB20, the team gets information from him and we try to help him.

But you see, it’s not just a question of understanding how he thinks about pilots. Sometimes he’s just unlucky, and what happens in qualifying affects the results of the races later. But we’re trying to help Sergio so that he can show better results in the races that are left before the summer break.

Q: Maybe he doesn’t have confidence driving this car?
Pierre Vacher: It’s hard to say: I’m not a racer, but it seems that Sergio doesn’t like the way the car reacts to his actions. This is exactly the problem we have to try to solve.