Good question, I was wondering about this gap as well. The RBR was fast in qualifying but not as fast in race. were they simply pitching the car overwhelmingly toward Qualifying pace? is it a mixture of that and Mercedes optimising their set up to extract more race pace and pitching their car less toward qualifying?Alexf1 wrote: ↑29 Jan 2022, 08:54Looking back at the last 2 race weekends of 2021 the difference in Q pace vs race pace of RB compared to Merc widened a lot. Can't find much explaining it except for SloPoke's overdrive theory, but that would be applicable to the race too I guess. My take is that after the new battery type they brought in Spa they implemented new ERS software for the last 2 race weekends for better energy recovery during braking in order to have longer maximum electrical power or MGU-H boost through the Q lap. As this causes extra heat and strain on the ERS system maybe this setting can't be used (yet) in races. Any thoughts?
Interesting, he often uses Porsches for his family track days. But maybe RB is a bit more advanced with their VAG deal..AeroDynamic wrote: ↑29 Jan 2022, 14:03Is Max being sponsored by Porsche in some way that im not familiar with? I noticed he's wearing new '22 season suit gear for RBR, although its mostly covered by the jacket he's wearing. But in the background, there appears to be a Porsche or a Porsche branded car with identical RBR design on its livery that matches what you can see of Verstappen's new suit.
I suspect it is just the (rear) tyre wear and saving them in the race. Maybe Redbull is a little more dependant of the mechanical grip, where Mercedes is shifted more to downforce. This would explain the difference on some tracks between the 2 cars.Alexf1 wrote: ↑29 Jan 2022, 08:54Looking back at the last 2 race weekends of 2021 the difference in Q pace vs race pace of RB compared to Merc widened a lot. Can't find much explaining it except for SloPoke's overdrive theory, but that would be applicable to the race too I guess. My take is that after the new battery type they brought in Spa they implemented new ERS software for the last 2 race weekends for better energy recovery during braking in order to have longer maximum electrical power or MGU-H boost through the Q lap. As this causes extra heat and strain on the ERS system maybe this setting can't be used (yet) in races. Any thoughts?
Probably just on of his personal cars, used for fun at trackdays.AeroDynamic wrote: ↑29 Jan 2022, 14:03Is Max being sponsored by Porsche in some way that im not familiar with? I noticed he's wearing new '22 season suit gear for RBR, although its mostly covered by the jacket he's wearing. But in the background, there appears to be a Porsche or a Porsche branded car with identical RBR design on its livery that matches what you can see of Verstappen's new suit.
It is his own car and it is for sale. He just used it for fun at some tracks with his dad and sister and friends.
The car in the images is from ClubSpeed in their event on Thursday and Friday. It was not the one owned by Max. It was a private test in Estoril, Portugal.
I know it was in Estoril, but what is ClubSpeed? I only know that from software.
OK, who's car was it, because it says GP Elite? Last year it was also on his car when he had a day fun at a circuit with his friend.
Thanks for your source. I believe the message from F1PT @F1PToficial on his Twitter account.