venkyhere wrote: ↑19 Apr 2025, 17:37
McLaren in sector1 is untouchable. Sector1 in jeddah used to be a Redbull fortress from 2022. That Japan win from a few weeks ago was indeed a miracle, thanks to a lucky combination of harder compounds chosen by Pirelli and cold weather chosen by nature. I don't think the flexi wing correction in Barcelona or the 'imola upgrades on redbull' is going to do anything to change the status quo. The RB21 doesn't hold a single ace over the MCL39, that car holds all aces in all types of corners, all temperatures, all ride heights.
The 'gulf' is bigger than anyone expected. The European leg of races is going to be a bloodbath.
Maybe the RB21 doesn’t hold the aces right now, but its biggest ace is potential. The MCL39 might be close to perfection, but that also means it's running out of headroom for improvement—finding another 3–4 tenths gets exponentially harder when you're already near the ceiling. Red Bull, on the other hand, still has clear areas to work on—instability, tyre management, setup sensitivity. If they solve those, the performance jump could be massive.