F1 News: Christian Horner Addresses Red Bull Suspension Worries

Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, has acknowledged issues concerning the RB20’s suspension, notably impacting its performance over kerbs and bumps. The difficulties were initially noted during the recent Monaco Grand Prix and persisted, though less so, at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

The crux of the machinery’s issues lies in an inherent conflict between its aerodynamic design and suspension setup. Predominantly, the car’s aerodynamics necessitate exceptionally stiff suspension, which, while potentially advantageous for creating downforce on these current ground effect cars, yields a low compliance suspension system that struggles with bump absorption. This technical compromise leads to a ride that is not only harsh but occasionally unstable, posing a significant challenge for drivers navigating quick circuits.

Despite these setbacks, Red Bull remains committed to finding solutions. Horner is optimistic about addressing these suspension issues without compromising the car’s aerodynamic efficiency, although he admits that a swift resolution seems improbable. Reflecting on the performance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Horner noted, as reported by Autosport:

“All of it has to work in tandem, so you are pushing the aerodynamic platform of the car, but you want the car to ride kerbs.

“What was encouraging was that our sector three this weekend was competitive, even with the stiffness of the car rattling over that last chicane. If you look throughout the running, we were very competitive there. So, despite it being uncomfortable, we were still able to be quick enough.”

Max Verstappen, Red Bull’s top driver, has also weighed in on the ongoing dilemma. He acknowledged the lessened impact of the problem in Canada, where track conditions made kerb-riding less frequent. The reigning champion remained hopeful about a resolution that preserves the rest of the car’s performance metrics.

“The last few races have been quite difficult, but not only just difficult, too many problems as well, throughout the whole weekend. So we need to have a cleaner weekend,” he admitted.

“We’re struggling a lot with the kerbing and the bumps. So we definitely have an area we can work on and definitely improve the car by quite a big margin if we get that under control.”

“I really think that we can solve this without influencing any other part of the car,” he explained. “We know that this is a weakness and I also know that we are flat out working on it to try and fix it, because I really feel like it’s quite a big performance limitation for us at the moment.

“Naturally, I’m also looking forward to some tracks maybe where we don’t really need to take too many kerbs or too many bumps.

“You can see already, every weekend so far, some teams are a bit stronger at particular tracks, and I guess that in a way, of course, makes it also very exciting.”