Pierre Vache: Our car is efficient on every track

Pierre Vache, technical director of Red Bull Racing, explained why the team decided to change the engines of both cars and what is the reason for Sergio Perez’s backlog of Max Verstappen.

Q: This weekend both of you drivers will be fined for replacing power plants or their parts. Can you explain why you made this decision?
Pierre Vas: Yes, I believe that in Sergio’s case, the penalty was planned, because at least we should have got it before the end of the season.

We didn’t want both cars to be fined in Spa and it is difficult to overtake in Zandvoort, so we planned to serve this penalty in Monza. And given our pace and the prospects for the upcoming races, we thought it would be nice if Max also got a spare engine.

It was decided to go for a penalty in his case, but he only loses five places. Overtaking on this circuit is possible, although it is more difficult to overtake in Monza than in Spa.

Q: You seem confident that your riders will be able to battle for the win in the race, regardless of their starting position…
Pierre Vas: There is less confidence than if we started from pole position. Some teams have quite fast cars, so obviously we have a difficult task ahead of us.

Q: What are the strengths of RB18? Why is it so effective on these types of slopes, including Spa?
Pierre Vas: I think our car works effectively on all tracks, just as a particular track has some special features, the RB18 works better than the rivals. But I think where a high level of downforce is needed, we no longer have such a noticeable advantage.

Q: Max has been performing really well lately, while Sergio is starting to struggle. Can a certain decrease in the rate be explained by some technical reasons?
Pierre Vas: I suppose there are several factors, but the main one is clearly related to the balance of the car. Sergio no longer feels the confidence behind the wheel he had at the start of the season, when the balance of the RB18 suited him more than Max. This changed slightly during the season’s chassis upgrade, and it turned out that finding the optimal settings for Perez so that he could fly more confidently and fight Max was not such an easy task.

This is due to a whole host of factors and now the car settings are more suitable for Verstappen. But in my opinion he can control any technique.

Q: The day before, it was announced that plans for a possible collaboration between Red Bull and Porsche had come to an end. How did you react to this news? What situation are you in and what are your plans for 2026 and beyond?
Pierre Vas: I believe that the plans for 2026 were already made before the negotiations with Porsche started, which I did not participate in. We have set up our own engine building company, which is developing a new engine, but since discussions with Porsche are not my remit, I cannot answer this question.

The situation is as it is, we continue to work and will do our best to make the 2026 car as good as possible.

Q: How difficult are the challenges to be solved in the development of the power plant for 2026?
Pierre Vas: This is, of course, the most difficult project. Frankly, this is not my area, I am now fully focused on the current championship, but it is clear that if everything starts from scratch, there are very serious tasks to be solved.

It is necessary to completely create and equip a new unit, and in the newly built building there are already several test benches, a staff of specialists is manned. We have to get into this new area very quickly, we have to catch up with the companies that have more experience – the challenge is to try to stay ahead of the current power plant suppliers.

I think my colleagues will be fine. I see their fighting spirit and they have excellent specialists. It seems to me that this project is developing well.