F1 News: “I didn’t enjoy the car”

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has revealed that the RB20 will be examined further to identify areas that need improvement. Despite securing his fourth championship, the Dutchman remains focused on gaining lessons from recent races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. These insights will be instrumental in shaping a flawless title contender for the 2025 season.

Despite a strong start to the season, which saw Verstappen win seven of the first ten Grands Prix, Red Bull had problems with Sergio Perez’s car after the Chinese Grand Prix. While Perez’s lack of form was initially blamed for the difficulties, it later emerged that the RB20 had a balance problem, which became apparent when Verstappen encountered significant handling difficulties after the summer break.

Although Red Bull’s upgrades at the United States Grand Prix helped overcome these issues, the car still lacked pace on select tracks. Verstappen admitted the team was aware of areas that needed attention when developing the 2025 car. However, he remains committed to gaining more insight in the final two rounds in hopes of gathering additional data that could benefit the team next year. When asked if the upcoming races were more about getting to know the car better, the four-time world champion said:

“Yes, I think so.

“I mean, I’m just trying to learn more about the car.

“We already know some things that we want to change for next year, but maybe we can find other things on the car that can be better for next year.”

“Because obviously we haven’t been the fastest in the last few races we’ve had, so I don’t expect that to suddenly change here.”

Verstappen revealed that through constant communication with his teammate, he learned that Perez faced similar challenges with the RB20. He acknowledged the difficult season both drivers have endured and stressed that the main focus now is on improving the car’s performance. He added:

“We always talked, talked and tried to improve the car.

“I also didn’t have any fun with the car in terms of handling for most of the season. But you have to deal with that. Try to overcome the difficulties.

“Discuss with the engineers how we can improve the situation. We did that.

“The car has been much drivable lately. But we still lack a bit of power to win races. But that’s how it is.

“We just have to try to get performance into the car now. But it was a difficult season for both of us at some points in terms of driving the car.”