Red Bull simulator driver Jake Dennis has lifted the lid on Max Verstappen's success in the RB20, revealing the car's “very neutral” balance allows the driver to push with “confidence” .
Red Bull, who won 21 of a projected 22 races last season, have made the perfect start to the 2024 season with back-to-back one-two finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Max Verstappen's Red Bull RB20 secret explained
With victory at next weekend's Australian Grand Prix, Verstappen will equal his own record of 10 consecutive wins, just six months after surpassing Sebastian Vettel's record of nine in 2013.
The RB20 picks up where its record-breaking predecessor, the RB19, left off, with Dennis saying the car's downforce and balance will allow both Verstappen and Perez to attack wider corners than their opponents. revealed.
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He told the Dutch edition of RacingNews365.com:
“It's not like the car gets very nervous in the fast corners or has a lot of understeer in the slow corners, the car is very neutral.
“This will give Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez the opportunity to pass through different corners with confidence.”
Ferrari have emerged as Red Bull's biggest threat in the opening weeks of the new season, with Carlos Sainz finishing third in Bahrain before teammate Charles Leclerc achieved the result in Jeddah.
Despite Red Bull's perfect start to the season, Dennis feels Ferrari are “slightly” closer to the world champions on pace compared to last season.
And he was surprised by the poor performance of Mercedes, which was hobbled by cooling issues in Bahrain, ahead of a challenging weekend in Saudi Arabia, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on the new W15 chassis. They finished in 6th and 9th place respectively.
Dennis said: “Of course, there's no denying that Ferrari closed the gap a bit. I was expecting a bit more of a challenge from Mercedes, but the first few races seemed to be difficult for them.
“I expected the gap to close, and it did, but I expected the race to probably be a little more challenging.
“I haven't really been there yet, so I'll see when I go to a more traditional track. Bahrain is tough on tires, but Jeddah is a very unique street circuit. I'm looking forward to going to a more normal circuit. Masu.”
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