Kerbs are still a big performance limitation for Red Bull, says Verstappen
Three-time world champion Max Verstappen said that Red Bull still need to sort out their issues that have hindered their performance on tracks with high kerbs.
Three-time world champion Max Verstappen emerged as the championship runaway leader at the start of the season, having won four of the opening five rounds. However, Red Bull appeared to endure a slight dip in form in recent races with McLaren and Ferrari having closed in on the reigning world champion team.
The Woking-based outfit won in Miami courtesy of Lando Norris, and the Maranello-based squad emerged victorious in Monaco courtesy of Charles Leclerc. Between the Miami and the Monaco rounds, the close race of Imola saw Verstappen secure his sixth victory of 2024, but he was put under immense pressure by Norris, who crossed the finish line only seven tenths of a second behind the Dutchman.
Verstappen suggested that the recent issues were down to the fact that his RB20 does not like high kerbs which has served as a performance limitation. The Dutchman is hopeful that his team can sort it out in the coming weeks.
"I really think that we can solve this without influencing any other part of the car. Today, it's more like what kerb riding, because I felt that was non-existent in the race.
"We know that this is a weakness and I also know that we are flat out working on it to try and fix it, because I really feel like it's quite a big performance limitation for us at the moment. Then, of course, naturally, I'm also looking forward to some tracks maybe where we don't really need to take too many kerbs or too many bumps.
"You can see already, every weekend so far, it's been... Some teams are a bit stronger at particular tracks, and I guess that in a way, of course, makes it also very exciting.
Verstappen finds himself on top of the Drivers' Standings, sitting on 194 points, 56 points clear of second-placed Charles Leclerc. His team Red Bull is also the leading force in the Constructors' Championship, having collected 49 points more than Ferrari.
The Dutchman said that Red Bull's performance has been encouraging so far, but they have been unable to repeat the same "flow" that they achieved last year.
"I mean, I think we are all very focused. We are still doing a lot of things right, but for whatever reason, we are not in that same flow as we had last year, where everything just seemed to be going really well for us at most places, no reliability issues.
"And I don't know, for whatever reason, it's all a bit more difficult this year. Some things are a bit hard to explain as well. Sometimes it almost feels like you're a bit in a spiral and it maybe takes a bit of time to get out of it.
"But yeah, we are for sure on top of everything. Of course, there are always things that you can do better. But yeah, we'll come out of this week and analyse everything again and try to improve," Verstappen added.
