Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has denied that Formula 1‘s technical directive, TD018, has severely impacted the team after they suffered a double Q2 elimination during Qualifying for the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
The team had struggled throughout the weekend to get their car under control, particularly being unable to find a solution to aggressive shifting and wheelspin problems.
Then in a stunning turn of events, Max Verstappen was eliminated from qualifying in Q2 by AlphaTauri‘s Liam Lawson with his lap only being good enough for 11th, and he was joined by Sergio Perez who could only manage 13th after spinning on his final flying lap.
Horner denied suggestions that the FIA‘s latest technical directive, aimed at stopping teams from allowing car parts to flex beyond the permitted tolerance, has hurt the RB19 package.
“Nothing’s changed on the car,” Horner said to Sky Sports F1. “So we tried a new aerodynamic part on Friday, we thought ‘Okay, well revert on that component.’
“So it’s a tried and tested set up that we have but it just hasn’t responded on this circuit, on this asphalt. Now you’re trying to get the tyres into the window and it’s been very hard for both drivers.”
Red Bull not worried for Japan
Following the race on Sunday, Milton Keynes will have five days to try to discover what went wrong and find a solution to it before they hit the track again for the Japanese GP.
But for now, Horner isn’t worried and pointed to Red Bull‘s incredible 2023 successes already as proof of this being a one-off.
“We have an amazing team,” Horner continued. “We nearly won every single Grand Prix this year and I think 22 out of the last 23.
“So we’ll get on top of these issues and we will try and get on top of them for tomorrow and work hard, we haven’t written this weekend off yet.
“The points are scored at the end of the evening, tomorrow [Sunday] night. So we’ll do everything we can in the Grand Prix tomorrow and then see where we are, and then focus on Japan on Sunday night.”
