Ricciardo’s fourth place in the Sprint Race and Yuki Tsunoda’s seventh and eighth place on Sunday confirmed the steps forward made by Racing Bulls. The Faenza team, with 19 points in the constructors’ standings, occupies a decent sixth place, in line with the objectives set by Laurent Mekies. The VCARB performed excellently in Miami, resulting in summary fifth place with the “collaboration” of an Aston Martin that did not arrive.
Being at the top of the midfield was the goal of the French ex-Ferrari Team Principal. The initial step was to try to fully understand the VCARB01, putting the first developments on a “fresh” Red Bull RB19 mechanical car:
“We came here with some updates, which lived up to our expectations. Our drivers played a fundamental role, obtaining a fourth place for Daniel and an eighth place for Yuki at the end of yesterday’s Sprint race. It was a great result for the team. I want to thank everyone in Faenza and Bicester once again for their continued commitment to the pursuit of performance.”
RACING BULLS FIFTH FORCE IN MIAMI WITH A PACKAGE OF 2 TENTHS
The Faenza team is aware that to achieve its objectives it is essential not to make mistakes in development. The two packages brought into the season, namely a first fund in Suzuka and a further evolution in Miami, allowed us to take a first step forward.
VCARB’s Miami specification should allow the team to take a further significant step, running closer to Stroll’s Aston Martin and defending itself from an attacking Haas VF-24. The Miami floor was worth two-tenths of performance, with the main update in the diffuser keel area, while the Suzuka specification aimed at managing air flow better.
In the race, Yuki Tsunoda was lucky with the ‘timing’ of the Safety Car after the team had decided not to respond to Hulkenberg’s early pit stop on lap 12, and the gamble paid off. However, the Japanese, even after the restart, George Russell was kept at bay with a pace two-tenths better than the Mercedes driver.
The difficulties in slow speed seem to have been alleviated compared to the other teams in the midfield, but the strength of the Faenza car is the aerodynamic load available, which only Alpine seems to have the potential to replicate with future updates. After six races Racing Bulls have scored 12 points more than Haas, and only six fewer than in the whole of 2023.
LOW SPEEDS WERE RACING BULLS’ ACHILLES HEEL IN MIAMI, TOO, AND IMOLA CAN ADAPT WELL TO THE VCARB01
In Miami, the Racing Bulls performed very well at medium and high speed, while the difficulties that emerged were the usual ones compared to the fastest, despite there having been important improvements compared to the competition in the ‘midfield’. The lower speed sections and the straights explain the gap of 6 tenths compared to Red Bull if we take the sister team as a reference point.
However, the progress in slow speed is also evident thanks to the floor brought to Suzuka, which had as its main objective that of improving the behaviour of the car at slow speed. Tsunoda himself had confirmed that the results would be seen later in the season, and so it was.
Tsunoda’s pace was impregnable for the other contenders for the points zone and, in particular, Aston Martin, which, like 12 months ago, is starting to lose its way with the arrival of the first seasonal updates. At Miami, Racing Bulls proved to be 7 tenths behind McLaren in race pace and overall more than two-tenths ahead of the group of Aston Martin, Alpine and Haas.
The great strength of VCARB01 remains Qualification, where so far this season, it has been the strongest among the midfield teams. The first home race of the season will arrive in Imola, the one closest to the Faenza headquarters, and Laurent Mekies expects an exciting weekend:
“Having the support of the home crowd, not to mention all our factory staff, gives the team an extra push.”
The characteristics of the Italian car are better suited to the Romagna track precisely due to the absence of long straights and slow corners, but every weekend is a story in itself and with three free practices available, the teams will be better able to optimize the set-ups.
