Understandably, McLaren’s failure to win in Monza is grabbing plenty of attention in F1 news outlets. However, Norris and Piastri’s messy Italian GP does not detract from the ever-growing problems at Red Bull. The RB20 is losing ground to its immediate rivals, with Christian Horner’s team unable to rectify persistent handling issues.
Red Bull in desperate need of upgrades
Helmut Marko reveals struggles
Considering the circumstances, Max Verstappen can be relatively satisfied with his individual performance in Monza.
The Dutchman managed to gain a position to finish the race in P6, only losing eight points in the Championship to Lando Norris – who fell from first to third.
However, Verstappen cannot continue relying on blunders from McLaren to keep his Championship lead. Red Bull needs to produce upgrades, and quickly, to give the 3-time World Champion the necessary machinery to fight for wins.
Christian Horner’s team is under pressure in this sense, given that their development has stagnated in 2024. The team needs to unlock more pace and make the RB20 more drivable.
Helmut Marko told Sky Germany about the car’s most problematic characteristics:
“Max cannot use his ability to drive incredibly on the limit because the car does not allow it, as it reacts too unpredictably.
“There are so many factors that cause us problems. At some point, with the upgrades, we lost the balance – and with the balance, we also lost the ability to move the car quickly.
“What was decided yesterday is that we will go back until we find the point where we took a wrong turn. We will see how quickly that goes.
“We are starting with Baku and are confident.”
Red Bull working on solutions in the factory
From a pragmatic standpoint, Red Bull will almost certainly shift their focus to winning the drivers’ Championship. McLaren are only 8 points behind in the team’s standings, a deficit that will almost certainly be overturned by the next round.
Even if the RB20 makes some improvement, there is little evidence to suggest that Perez could score enough points to stop Andrea Stella’s team from taking the crown.
It is not unrealistic for Ferrari to overtake Red Bull either, with the Italian outfit only 30 points behind the Austrian team. Upgrades to the SF-24 in Monza delivered a big step forward, putting the Scuderia’s development back on track after their mid-season wobble.
Because of this, the Austrian team’s best chance is to try and defend Max Verstappen’s driver’s title. The Dutchman has a 62-point gap over Norris, which should buy Red Bull some time to work on updates.
Luckily for Red Bull, the calendar works in their favour. After the next two races (Azerbaijan and Singapore) there is a one-month gap to the American GP.
This gives the factory in Milton Keynes a two-month spell to introduce upgrades and respond to McLaren’s resurgence. The question is whether they are capable of capitalising on their point advantage.
Max Verstappen pointed out the RB20’s biggest limitations several months ago. As Christian Horner confirmed last weekend, the car’s characteristics have remained largely unchanged since the start of the season.
With this in mind, Red Bull needs to dig deep if they are to address their fundamental weaknesses.
