Red Bull is known for getting drivers through their driver program quickly, with several having made it to the top league of motorsport and demonstrating their skills on the big stage. However, the French Grand Prix gave some insight into the shortcomings of the youngest Red Bull academy.
AlphaTauri
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda is certainly not overrated. His promotion to F1 is the result of his outstanding performance in his short time in single-seaters, which culminated in 3rd place in the F2 ranking in 2020. As a rookie in F2, that was impressive enough to justify his promotion to F1. He certainly has the ability and skill to achieve greatness and has the ability to make sharp overtaking maneuvers to overtake world champions like Vettel and Alonso. Unfortunately, he now had two qualifying incidents in Imola, Baku and France, all of which prevented him from scoring strong points. Pierre Gasly has now scored 37 out of 45 from Alpha Tauri, with the team in a close battle with Aston Martin & Alpine.
Risk mitigation and caution are all things novice drivers learn. Accidents can happen, but experience can also reduce them if drivers understand where to drive more and how much. Could Tsunoda possibly have prevented some mistakes by extending his time in Formula 2 and preparing for an attack on the F2 title?
Red Bull
Racing tires are difficult to handle. Drivers need to maximize speed through corners while maintaining tire temperatures to minimize degradation. The Circuit Paul Ricard exposed a slippery road surface after heavy rain, which caused cars to slide through the corners and adversely affect tire wear. This resulted in different tire wear, in stark contrast to what the teams saw in their cross-country training runs. Under these circumstances, only a driver with a deep understanding of tire management would have been able to exert pressure from a one-stop strategy. This allowed Perez to manage his tire wear and bring up a late attack to overtake Mercedes-Valtteri Bottas for the final podium, which helped maximize Red Bull’s weekend points gain.
Former Red Bull drivers Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon struggled several times to stay on the track within the pit stop windows of their teammates and their immediate rivals. This resulted in more freedom for these rivals to face Max Verstappen again or to fight for the fastest point in the race. Perez’s recent appearances have shown the importance of having both drivers in the mix and being available to disrupt alternative strategies of rival teams.
Continue reading
Windsor praises Perez: “Sergio did a perfect job for Max”
judgment
Red Bull’s talent scouting ability is hands down one of the best. They were able to include talents like Ricciardo, Gasly, Sainz and Albon in their ranks, all of whom have demonstrated great ability and achieved a lot in their careers. However, France shows the problems that have plagued the teams lately. Instead of allowing young drivers to refine their craft and learn the steep knowledge curve in Formula 1, the academy takes drivers high and puts them in the limelight of the media, fans and team management.
Red Bull may have to cultivate fewer options and spend more time making sure they are happy with their progress rather than putting them in situations where they will eventually lose their drivers.
Continue reading
