What a horrendous start to the Imola Grand Prix weekend for triple-world champion Max Verstappen! The hype caused by the new upgrades in the RB20 ahead of Imola proved disastrous during the first two free practice sessions.
In FP1 Verstappen ended in fifth place, and degraded down to seventh in FP2. Verstappen regularly expressed his frustration with the RB20’s uncooperative behavior and erratic balance on the team radio. Despite the new modifications, which include an entirely new front wing, a redesigned floor, and rear bodywork tweaks, he believed Red Bull was too sluggish after the practice.
Max Verstappen’s lack of balance and clash with Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen has stated that the remainder of his weekend’s racing “can hardly be worse than today” following a horrible day on the track in Imola. During the first practice session, which host team Ferrari dominated, Max Verstappen was left upset after going off course twice.
But Red Bull is mostly concernedâand rightfully soâabout the long runs. Verstappen and Perez’s race simulations were not good, to put it mildly. The lap times clearly show how poorly the mediums seemed to function. In contrast to Leclerc, who provided a useful benchmark with his modified Ferrari, Verstappen was typically eight-tenths slower using the same tire. Verstappen and Marko’s disgruntled expressions gave the impression that Red Bull was below subpar this time.
“Worse than today couldn’t be possible.” Max Verstappen said such things after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix’s first day of competition. The Dutchman finished the first two practice sessions in fifth and seventh place due to technical issues with his revised RB20.
Verstappen and Hamilton both had unpredictable days. With a Mercedes boost, Hamilton finished fourth, but Verstappen was only seventh, half a second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will be hoping for a home-track victory if the Scuderia’s upgrade is up to par.
A tricky hour of FP2 đ Wrapping up Friday in Imola đźđč#F1 || #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/xtOwJdF9Gc
â Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 17, 2024
“My God,” yelled Verstappen on the radio, just before his incident with Hamilton. “I don’t know, man. It’s so difficult, everything. This time suddenly the front grips up a lot, I almost spin.”
Verstappen was also frustrated during FP2 after encountering a slow-moving Lewis Hamilton on the approach to the hairpin. During practice for Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, a furious Max Verstappen purposefully drove in front of Lewis Hamilton. This was a rematch between the two former adversaries.
Max Verstappen very upset at Lewis Hamilton for obstructing his flying lap. pic.twitter.com/5UsoMgxGlV
â Daniel Valente đïž (@F1GuyDan) May 17, 2024
Enraged that Hamilton had obstructed him on a flying lap, Verstappen slammed his Red Bull car into the Mercedes driver’s path here at Imola. Verstappen slowed down to express his displeasure with Hamilton by removing his left hand from the steering wheel and making gestures in his direction, even though he was careful not to make any contact with Hamilton’s machine on the exit of the Villeneuve chicane.
Before his collision with Verstappen, Hamilton had also irritated Fernando Alonso, an old rival. The 42-year-old accused Hamilton of obstructing his path, just like he did with Verstappen. “Hamilton thinks that he is alone on the race track,” said Alonso. “It is the second lap he does it, turn 12, and now turn seven.”
When asked what he thought had happened, the current world champion said, “It’s not the first time.” Naturally, you make every effort to remain composed, but it kept happening.”
Hamilton raised an apologetic hand to the Red Bull man in acknowledgment of his mistake and took responsibility for getting in Dutchman’s way.
Adrian Newey’s absence is more apparent than ever
Red Bull Racing’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan in a recent interview with GPBlog revealed he is very sad that technical genius Adrian Newey is leaving Red Bull in 2025. “It is a loss to the team,” Monaghan has remarked.
For the 2024 Imola Grand Prix, Red Bull modified its front wing by lengthening the third and fourth elements’ chord lengths and changing the endplate geometry. It is stated that the endplate modification increases yaw stability, increasing corner entry predictability. The vortex-shedding margins of the floor edge wing have been repositioned to provide a purported increase in local load. To maximize its impact, the floor in front of this device has been lowered a little.
Just wondering đ€ this is the 2nd race where @redbullracing is struggling (after Adrian Newey’s resignation).
Maybe he did have a crucial role in the day to day running after all. đ#imolaGP #f1 #maxverstappen #redbull #f1twt #formula1
â Editor (@AI_F1_01) May 17, 2024
Although Red Bull might be working in the same manner as they have always, many speculate that the results of the first free practice sessions at Imola on Friday were just the beginning of the decline of Red Bull’s dominance in the sport. With Newey leaving the team, it will bring a massive change in the entire machinery of Red Bull Racing, which will most definitely affect their performance result.
Fans have reacted to Pierre Wach’s remarks on Newey’s departure, where he said “It was a team effort to deliver this car. Not one person delivered this car.” Newey played a much larger part in bringing Red Bull to where it is than Wache did.
Most likely just coincidence but the two weekends where Red Bull & Max Verstappen have seemed most uncomfortable (Miami & Imola) happen to be the two weekends where Adrian Newey hasnât influenced anything.
Makes me remember what Checo said in Miami about Neweyâs presence. pic.twitter.com/MZnMV9MOqn
â Daniel Valente đïž (@F1GuyDan) May 17, 2024
Are the results the effect of Newey’s departure or simply some off-data and upgrades? Well, we are yet to see and analyze the FP3 and Quali on Saturday. It is just a matter of time before Red Bull makes their changes to improve their performance. Adrian Newey is not gone yet, he is still there with Red Bull along with his team.
Verstappen’s practice session horrors were met with mixed reactions from the fans and critics alike. The RB20 with all the new upgrades was deemed to be faster than what it was previously, but to the utter shock of the day, the upgraded car turned out to be a big disappointment.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull were trolled on social media for putting up a weak fight at the free practices. At this point, a Red Bull rampage seemed less likely, and Ferrari, the host team, led the Friday running instead.
Unless changes are made in the RB20 for the 2024 Imola Grand Prix, it seems nearly impossible for Red Bull to dominate the race, as Ferrari had the upper hand on Friday as they had promised about their new upgrades.
Verstappen is also set to participate in a 24-hour simulation race this weekend which is coinciding with the Imola Grand Prix. And some critics as well as well-wishers are worried that this might harm Verstappen’s racing.
Verstappen complained about the car being off balance and that it was moving a lot. The pace wasn’t there either. He managed to go fifth fastest and seventh fastest in FP1 and FP2 respectively, bringing the F1 viewers to question whether it is due to the news of Adrian Newey’s exit or more of the internal disputes that are causing the consecutive average performance by the defending champions.
