The Racing Bulls continue to earn points in the constructors’ standings, and in Montreal, the VCARB 01 once again confirmed its potential. In Faenza, they are more than satisfied with how this first part of 2024 is going. The standings speak clearly for Racing Bulls, with a total of 24 points won and a consolidated sixth position. The team’s nearest pursuer, Haas, are a good 17 points away.
CEO Peter Bayer’s team continues to demonstrate consistency in various layouts. The VCARB 01 also has a good balance between qualifying performance and race performance. Yuki Tsunoda is performing at a high level and will remain in Faenza until at least 2025. In combination with an improving Daniel Ricciardo, the Italian team is in good shape.
Problems persist from the start. Ricciardo penalty: incorrect clutch setting
The penalty Daniel Ricciardo received for jumping the start did not prevent him from finishing P8. This was a well-deserved result for a team that showed good pace throughout the weekend.
“The penalty at the start for Daniel, due to a very slight dragging of the clutch, and a couple of moments on the track for Yuki cost us a few more points that we could have obtained,” said Laurent Mekies post-race. VCARB’s team principal pointed to issues with the car for their poor start in Canada.
In general, race starts are a weakness for the Racing Bulls. Tsunoda and Ricciardo regularly lose positions at the start. The team in Faenza is aware of this issue but has yet to find a solution. This is despite the fact Red Bull does not suffer from the same clutch issue.
Ricciardo’s jump-start in Canada is linked to a technical problem, defined by sources within the team as “a technical error” relating to a wrong setting.
“I got a penalty for jumping the start, but I was a bit confused because I knew I hadn’t missed the traffic lights. But then I remembered that during the start, I felt that perhaps the car was moving,” commented the Australian driver.
Since the beginning of the season, Feanza has been working to improve the management of starts and clutch releases. From the information gathered adjustments to the driver’s sensitivity in collaboration with mechanics could offer the solution. Both Tsunoda and Ricciardo will work on the simulator to try different settings related to the starting phases.
In Spain, an update of 2.5-tenths will arrive
Racing Bulls, despite an uncertain start to 2024, has shown a strong development trajectory. “We are taking small steps at a time, but all correct,” commented a satisfied Laurent Mekies at the end of the Canadian GP.
The work between Faenza and Bicester (soon Milton Keynes) was bearing considerable fruit even in the second half of 2023. The next appointment on the calendar, in Spain, will feature VCARB’s second upgrade package of the year. This comes roughly two months after Miami when the first upgrades were integrated.
Authoritative sources have suggested to Formu1a.uno that the Barcelona update will be the most important of 2024 so far.
“We must continue with our approach of taking small steps, one after the other, in every single area. Race after race, he is leading us towards better positions, all in Faenza and Bicester,” underlined Laurent Mekies.
The next upgrades scheduled for Spain should produce more downforce in high-speed corners. This is an area where the car designed by Jody Eddington has suffered from some shortcomings.
The extra load offered by the new floor will be even more important than that seen in Miami, with a floor with a different compromise in terms of stiffness values and weight reduction work. In Miami, the package was worth 2 tenths.
In Barcelona, if everything correlates, the updates could be worth up to 2.5-tenths on tracks like Barcelona and Silverstone. Aston Martin, which has struggled to make progress with updates since the start of the season, is not a very distant target in terms of performance, especially with Lance Stroll.
