{"id":475560,"date":"2025-10-05T09:36:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T09:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/475560\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T09:36:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T09:36:14","slug":"was-the-rb21-better-than-everyone-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/475560\/","title":{"rendered":"Was the RB21 better than everyone thought?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After struggling through the first half of the season with a car that operated in a very narrow window, Red Bull has turned a corner in recent races. Max Verstappen<\/a> took back-to-back Formula 1 victories, and he says the step in performance is about more than just new parts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

With two dominant wins in Monza and Baku, and a front-row start in Singapore<\/a>, Red Bull has shown significant progress in recent weeks. It even makes Verstappen a potential factor in the title fight \u2013 although the Dutchman himself doesn\u2019t want to get too carried away just yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

The Singapore Grand Prix<\/a> weekend has so far demonstrated that Red Bull\u2019s resurgence isn\u2019t limited to low-downforce tracks like Monza and Baku. Singapore requires a high-downforce set-up, and even with that configuration the team has remained competitive, at least over a single lap. Verstappen will have to start behind George Russell<\/a> \u2013\u00a0partly due to his moment of frustration with Lando Norris<\/a> \u2013\u00a0but he still lines up ahead of both McLarens.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Verstappen \u201ccouldn\u2019t have imagined this\u201d in Zandvoort\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt worked out pretty well,\u201d Verstappen said when asked whether the high-downforce test for Red Bull had gone as planned. \u201cIf you\u2019d told me before the weekend that things would go like this, I would\u2019ve signed for it right away. This has always been a track that\u2019s been really tough for us. The fact that we were seriously fighting for pole-position is already a very good sign.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It underlines the upward trend \u2013\u00a0one that even Verstappen himself couldn\u2019t have imagined back in Zandvoort. \u201cNobody expected this to be honest. But of course, there are reasons why things are suddenly working better now. I just can\u2019t say what those reasons are,\u201d he added with a smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the reasons is believed to be the new floor that Red Bull introduced in Monza. It has helped, but Verstappen made clear during his Dutch media session in the Singapore paddock that it\u2019s not the main factor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Max <\/p>\n

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing<\/p>\n

Photo by: Mark Thompson \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, everything helps, of course, but that\u2019s not the full reason,\u201d he explained. Asked what is the most important factor, Verstappen replied: \u201cA different philosophy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It refers to a new working approach \u2013\u00a0one that seems to be paying off in recent weekends. Verstappen doesn\u2019t want to go into details, but Red Bull has not needed to completely overhaul the car set-up after Friday, something that was often the case earlier this season. \u201cThat\u2019s correct. Now we can fine-tune the car more throughout the weekend, and that\u2019s the most important thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Was there (much) more potential in the RB21 earlier this year?\u00a0<\/p>\n

This naturally raises another key question: has this potential been in the car all along? It\u2019s a \u201cwhat if\u201d scenario that ultimately changes nothing in the standings, but it\u2019s still an intriguing one as it suggests that the RB21 might not have been as bad as many thought. Instead, maybe Red Bull just wasn’t able to unlock its performance consistently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked about that theory by Autosport, Verstappen confirmed it for the first time: \u201cThat\u2019s pretty clear, yes. But there\u2019s nothing we can do about that now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Max <\/p>\n

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing<\/p>\n

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

He admitted that, with the lessons Red Bull has learned in recent weeks, the team could have extracted more from its 2025 challenger earlier in the year. \u201cAt the start of the season, for sure \u2013\u00a0absolutely,\u201d Verstappen admitted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That knowledge may come too late for a fifth world title, but it has made Red Bull far more competitive in the closing stages of the season. When asked whether Singapore proves that Red Bull can now be competitive on any circuit, Verstappen added a small note of caution. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou still have to find the optimal setup every weekend,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe gaps are so small now that a tiny mistake in set-up or something else can have big consequences. We have to look into that carefully every single weekend.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, Verstappen acknowledged that the team\u2019s improved execution is a big positive in that regard, making it much more likely to hit the sweet spot. \u201cThat\u2019s definitely the most encouraging thing, yes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

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– The Autosport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After struggling through the first half of the season with a car that operated in a very narrow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,707,4200,130090,1073,749,130103,79,16,15,157926],"class_list":{"0":"post-475560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-formula-1","10":"tag-formula1","11":"tag-marina-bay-street-circuit","12":"tag-max-verstappen","13":"tag-red-bull-racing","14":"tag-singapore-gp","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-verstappen-sheds-light-on-red-bull-theory-was-the-rb21-better-than-everyone-thought"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115320887724254205","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}