What happened to McLaren’s speed profit on Red Bull in F1 Emola GP?

In Miami Grand Prix Max Verustapane rejected Lando Noris Poll but only crossed the finish line in the fourth in the race, about 40 seconds of the winner Oscar piastry In another McLaren,

Fast-forward two weeks and Vastapane not only defeated both papaya drivers, but did so comfortably. If the victory of his Japanese Grand Prix was largely to maintain the position of the track in a strategy-hungry race, the four-time world champion Emilia-Romagna had a good value for his victory, which was very closely matched in the competition with better wearing better tires than before.

So what? And were Emola’s turnaround red bulls remembering the mark of overperforming or mcLaren?

Both McLaren and Red Bulls equipped with minor upgradation in the first race of the European season, in which McLaren added downforce to the back corner of the car and brought a circuit-specific rear wing. Red Bull also adapted its rear corner aero as well as its sidepods, which reduces the impact of a re -designed floor that Vastaten had already moved to Miami.

Along with connecting the lump sum aerodynamic load, the reforms of Emola helped the Red Bull to control the temperature of their tire, which was a limited factor in the race like Miami and Bahrain, where the team was also well beaten by McClayran. Usually you were expecting a strong start with the Westpane, but then it would start slipping and fading. Nevertheless, Emola was the first to blink the eyelid in the piastry, only after 14 laps.

“We have certainly managed to perform something on the car and bring it into a better window,” Horner said. “And as soon as you remove sliding, you are able to manage the temperature much better.

“McLerances looked very fast, very fast for a long time on Friday. But this is the first time I can remember in a long time, we have really accepted McLaren to drag and exclude. Therefore, it is very encouraging and a great result for the effort that has gone behind the curtain.”

Horner also reported that Red Bull “was more surprising about McLaren’s lack of performance”, his McLaren counterpart Andrea Stela reflected those views.

“I have to say that we were a little surprised by the speed of the red bull, which was very competitive,” Stella accepted. “To be able to pull such a performance was well done to Max and Red Bull, which meant that the race was greatly fixed by the swap of the position between the Oscars and Max. After that we tried to chase it, but effectively we did not have enough race pace to be able to defeat Max.”

Stella reported that a major factor was the traditional track layout of Emola, with a high -speed corner, through which McL39 of McLaren has completed its match in the Red Bull RB21.

By qualifying the GPS data, Verustapane showed the rapid left hand of Rivazza a little further from the left hand and the second part of the most strips, showing McLaren usually better traction and enjoying acceleration out of the corners. The final result was only a pole for piastry by 0.034s, with Mercedes ‘with’ George Russell Just a tenth behind.

“If we look at the speed of the corners compared to Miami, it is completely different regime,” Italian explained. “The car is operated in a completely different part of aerodynamic maps. We know that our car is strong on track layout like Miami, Bahrain or China, but when it comes to high-speed corners, as we are here in Imola, I don’t think we do not think we enjoy any special benefits. So the track layout, the progress of the track layout, I think we do not mean two factors. it means.”

An emerging tendency has been the skill of McLaren in warm conditions, which helped it stand out with its better rear tire management on the above circuit. Why much this benefit was absent in a hot Emola race – even on Pirelli’s most soft tire compounds – yet to be fully explained. “This is a good question. We have to look at the data, we have to look at the behavior of tires and their thermal rule,” Stela said.

Is it possible that Red Bull has finally unlocked something with its upgrade and set-up work to keep its rear tires under control?

“I will tell you in a week,” said Horner. “Generally, we are gaining a better understanding, and the technical team is working very hard on it. We really thought it was going to be very difficult to defeat McLaren, so it was very confident that our erosion was really better than them.

“I think we are starting to understand. Upgradation was mainly focused on characteristics rather than the final downforce. We have managed to address, hopefully, by subtlety, some characteristics, which are encouraging for the upcoming race.”

If the findings in Monaco are confirmed – where the Red Bull struggled last year – and Barcelona’s high -depletion layout, perhaps the 2025 championship would not actually be the McLaren walkover.

But as it was unproductive for nervousness after Bahrain or Miami for the red bull, it also cannot go into Jubilee. The two teams will bring more upgrade to Barcelona at two weeks, when a strict FIA instruction on front wing flexing forces the grid to make its designs tweet.

“No, I am not convinced anywhere,” said Tech Chief of Red Bull Pierre Cove. “We were (competitive) in Japan and we were destroyed in Bahrain and Miami. Clearly, it is not given in this business (not taken for). They develop and have a very good car. Then we still have to work hard.

“I am not sure that it was a big improvement, but it was an improvement in the right direction.”