F1: The secret to Red Bull’s speed is Verstappen’s right foot

If Lewis Hamilton wants to win again, he needs to bow down and polish Verstappen’s right boot. Therein lies the secret to the RB19’s speed.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Chief Designer Aldo Costa made Lewis Hamilton.  Since Costa left Mercedes, Hamilton has not won a race. Now he is begging Mercedes for mercy.

After getting his lunch eaten by Max Verstappen by 49-seconds in the Japanese GP, Hamilton says the Mercedes Formula 1 team needs the “greatest six months of development” it has ever had if it is to compete with Red Bull in 2024.

“There are things that I’ve asked for, that we’ve gone… in part of the direction for next year,” he told Sky Sports F1. “All the points that George and I give I think have been fully listened to.

“I have no idea where the car’s going to be next year, but we’re a long, long way away.

“We’ve got to hope for… the next six months has to be the greatest six months of development that we’ve ever, ever had to close that gap, to be really banging on the door.”

Just How lost is Mercedes without Costa?

McLaren started the 2023 season with the seventh-fastest car on average at the first five grands prix of the season, but major upgrade packages have now made it the 2nd fastest car at most races.

By copying the Red Bull as much as they could, the McLaren design team has now produced a car that is faster than the Mercedes.

Without Aldo Costa – Mercedes is lost.

Hamilton has begged Mercedes to also copy Red Bull, but instead they rolled out the W14 at the beginning of the season, based on a modified version of the horrible W13.

“The evidence is there, at McLaren, and we can’t turn a blind eye to that, we’ve got to look at what they’ve done and go in that direction,” he said. “That is the direction.

“And I truly believe my team can do it. We’ve always been great at putting downforce on the car, it’s just that with the way our car currently works, adding downforce doesn’t work, it just makes it bounce more.

“Hopefully with the change of philosophy, we will be back to where the team deserves. Because this is a world championship team, we still are an amazing team and I have absolute faith in everyone.

“The decisions that are made in this period of time are critical for our trajectory.”

Is Red Bull Really The Fastest Car?

Everyone keeps saying that the Red Bull is the fastest car and that is why Max Verstappen is winning so much.

Yes, the Red Bull RB18 and this year’s RB19 were good cars.  However, in the hands of Sergio Perez the car is lucky to qualify in the top-5.

One can argue that perhaps the Red Bull is NOT the fastest car, but in the hands of the best driver of all time, Max Verstappen, it is.

While everyone in the F1 paddock looks for ways to copy the Red Bull car, they have yet to figure out a way to copy Max Verstappen’s right foot.

While Verstappen may not have the winning personality of a Lewis Hamilton, what he lacks in ‘lovability,’ he more than makes up for it behind the wheel.

When Verstappen gets in the cockpit and pulls down his visor, he does things with the race car the others simply are incapable of doing.

Hamilton is worried Verstappen will destroy all his records

TBD: To Be Determined