“Need to Be a Bit More Careful”: Max Verstappen & Co. Slapped With $7,000,000 Reality Check Despite Having a Flawless Start to the Season

Charles Leclerc had a flying start to the 2022 season. Looked like the championship was a piece of cake. But the latter half was plagued with reliability issues as the Ferrari power unit was built for performance. Red Bull, who was a little behind at the start, jumped and dominated the remaining season. Max Verstappen and Co. have had a flawless start to the 2023 season but cannot get complacent now as they were slapped with a $7 million worth of reality check. Who slapped Red Bull and what did he say?

Adrian Newey once again worked his magic at Red Bull and built a rocketship of an RB19. The car is good everywhere on the track and has helped Red Bull secure 5 wins out of the 5 races so far and four 1-2 finishes. The car is at least half a second a lap ahead of the competition on race day. Until and unless Red Bull has any kind of failure, they look unbeatable.

Peter Windsor brought up McLaren’s 1988 season where there was only 1 race that they did not win and that was the Monza GP. He compared the 88’ McLaren with this year’s Red Bull in terms of dominance. However, he ended up giving the Milton Keynes base a reality check by explaining how their season can be affected by the cost cap rule they breached last season. With a hefty $7,000,000 fine and a 10% reduction in aerodynamic treating time, the competitors have loads of resources to catch up.

According to the video uploaded by Peter Windsor on his YouTube channel, he said, “I think also, compared with 88, this era is different. Because we’re in a budget cap era. And Red Bull has already got the penalty for winning the championship last year. This means they have got less aero test time, less wind tunnel time, less CFD time, and on top of that they’re got the penalty for exceeding the budget cap last year anyway. So they have to be very careful with how much they can spend. So compared with 88 when McLaren would’ve just continued to develop that car as much as they did in those days, not a massive amount but they did throughout the year. They need to be a bit more careful.”

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While it might sound harsh to the Red Bull supporters, the situation is true. A team Like Aston Martin has significantly more Aero time than Red Bull and is not that far away from them either. If the rivals play their moves smartly, they can overtake the Red Bull. With the Monaco GP just around the corner, the Milton Keynes team is already expressing a weakness as the Red Bull drivers open up about it. 

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen pessimistic about Red Bull’s chances around Monaco

The Red Bull excels in straight-line speed and race pace. Both of which aren’t important here in Monaco. It is all about slow to medium-speed corners and qualifying as high as one can on Saturday. Both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen downplayed the RB19 around Monaco as pessimism resounded around Red Bull’s chances around the Crown Jewel of F1.

According to Formula1.com, Sergio Perez said, “We certainly know it’s not our strongest circuit. We will struggle a bit to show our strengths, but it’s still Monaco. Come Saturday you still need a good warm-up on your tire, that is the key around here. Let’s say it’s not our strongest circuit, but we will see. It’s Monaco and everything can happen.”

Max Verstappen matched the sound of Checo’s statements as said, “We’ve not been, let’s say, very dominant in qualifying. We have always been very good in the race, but in the race here we know we can’t pass.”

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What do you make of Peter Windsor’s comments regarding Red Bull needing to be careful?