Why Red Bull's technical team are so happy with Verstappen and Perez

How important are drivers in developing a car? It is a question GPblog.com asked in an exclusive interview with Red Bull Racing technical director Pierre Waché. He explains the role of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the creation of the RB20.

Red Bull Racing impressed with the new RB20 during the winter test in Bahrain. While the RB19 already dominated Formula 1 in 2023 and everyone was trying to copy that car, Red Bull have not been idle either. The RB20 is an aggressive evolution.

It seems strange. Red Bull won 21 out of 22 Grands Prix in 2023, so why change your car so radically? Asked what Max Verstappen, who took 19 of those 21 wins, wanted to improve on the RB19, Waché replied as follows:

What Verstappen wanted to improve on the RB19

"I think clearly he wants a better ride in the low speed. Under the kerb. More low-speed performance. I think this was the main thing he wanted. And overall more performance. He's a winning machine, Max. And he knows with experience he has that the car will not be perfect. What he wants is to make it quicker than the others. He wants to win races. He drives us so it’s more efficient for his perspective to work in this area and we listen to him. It doesn't mean we achieve it."

Sometimes fans and some drivers act easy about a driver's role in a team: 'Put him in another car and he won't win anymore'. Yet that role of a driver cannot be underestimated. Adrian Newey and Ross Brawn, surely two big names in engineering, both stress in their biographies how important their star drivers were in developing the car. What is Max's role in that area at Red Bull?

"I think it's clear that if you don't have driver feedback you don't know what is missing on the car. You know that as an engineer .We need to make a quick car, but it's not enough to make the quickest car. You see the difference. To extract and to win races you need to have the driver to be able to use it. And you have a lot of performance from the driver telling you what is missing and what he needs to go quicker. Not only do I need overall more downforce less drag, more grip. This one is not enough. We need more."

Why Verstappen and Perez are an ideal duo for Red Bull

"When they go to the limit they tell us if I have that at this time, I will be a lot quicker and as an overall season because it could be track related, it could be condition related, it could be tyre related as we know. But more or less, you try to extract between the conversation and the dialogue we have with the driver the synthesis between what he wants overall this season and what he could make the car quicker, not only by improving the overall performance of the car. Just say I need a little bit more rear there more front there. If I have better control there, it will be a lot better. I will have less degradation. All this stuff is very very important."

In his book, Newey also stresses the importance of two drivers complementing each other in that respect. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were very complementary in that area, but when Webber dropped out and was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull lacked information on an aerodynamic level. What about Verstappen and Perez?

"Only having feedback from one driver is very very difficult. Because you see only one view and one way of driving. It's very complementary to have a balance and when you both are going to the same direction, he pushes you even more and gives you more confidence to go to this direction. And I tend to agree with Adrian that you need you need two types of feedback. It's a lot easier to see the overall car because you operate the car in a wider condition."