Red Bull Racing has had tough luck during the last three races of the season. They saw little reason for encouragement following the second free practice session in Monaco on Thursday.
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez however, managed a P1 and P3 respectively in the first free practice.
Red Bull playing tricks of the trade?
The Formula 1 community is eager to see how Red Bull will fare this weekend.
The Red Bull RB16B is more suited to the Monaco circuit with its tight corners as compared to the Mercedes W12. However, the second practice session led to disappointing results with both drivers clocking in at P4 and P8.
The Ferraris were leading the pack after FP2.
While Red Bull had a difficult time, Max Verstappen was not happy with his car. He claimed to suffer from understeering and called his team slow and weak.
However, Formula 1 journalist Lawrence Barretto thinks that these antics could be a game being played by the outfit.
What did Barretto say?
”When our data team dug into the numbers and worked out their performance taking things like fuel loads and tyre life into consideration, they topped both the short and long run charts,” said the journalist.
“So while Red Bull may be talking a lot about Ferrari and Mercedes’ pace around Monaco so far this year, it could well be deflection, as they appear to look pretty handy themselves.”
Race data reveals it all
Barretto makes this claim based on data from Formula 1’s official website.
In the qualification simulation, Red Bull leads the pack with Mercedes at +0.06 and Ferrari at +0.09. While this is close, the gap is a lot significant in the race.
Again, Red Bull is the fastest, and Mercedes and Ferrari are both at +0.14.
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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