\u201cthe car, the power unit, are the benchmark at the moment\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cLook at the energy deployment today,\u201d he said, per Racer. \u201cThey are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else \u2014 I mean, speaking of a second per lap over consecutive laps.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a single lap we\u2019ve seen it before, but now we\u2019ve seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same kind of straight-line deployment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whereas most other cars are finding themselves starved of electrical energy down Bahrain\u2019s four straights, the RB21 seemed to have no problems regenerating all the power it needed.<\/p>\n
In other words, the Red Bull Powertrains engine seemed to be working most efficiently of all the manufacturers.<\/p>\n
Carlos Sainz, whose Williams team takes customer Mercedes engines, came to the same conclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever Red Bull Ford Powertrains were doing yesterday was a clear step ahead of anyone else,\u201d he said, per Autosport. \u201cNot only a small step but a clear step, and it was mighty impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercedes confident in new W17 Challenger | 01:30<\/p>\n
Trackside observes noted that Verstappen was among the first drivers this week to adopt an aggressive downshifting style in an apparent bid to keep engine revs up to charge the battery while braking. By the end of the second day, several other drivers appeared to be experimenting with a similar technique.<\/p>\n
This sort of downshifting tends to unsettle the rear of the car as the revs spike, making the car unstable as it slows down.<\/p>\n
One of the most formidable tools in Verstappen\u2019s driving arsenal is his ability to marshal a very loose rear axle. It\u2019s that skill that had him obliterate Sergio P\u00e9rez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda as teammates in a line of Red Bull Racing cars that took advantage of his rare talents.<\/p>\n
The downshifting style is unlikely to be decisive in energy recovery, but it will be part of the story, and Verstappen is best placed to maximise it.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also regarded among that elite group of drivers who have the spare mental bandwidth while driving to manage the complexities of the energy recovery regime.<\/p>\n
Though he may not like the new cars, on paper you could argue they\u2019ll give him an advantage.<\/p>\n
Sainz appeared to allude to that potential when explaining that the best car-driver pairing would be the one that required the fewest sacrifices from either side.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key to these regulations is not going to be separating both, but integrating both of them together,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom what I could see yesterday, it seems like Red Bull has done exactly that, without having to give the driver a compromise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the car is telling you to downshift a certain way, you just do what the car is asking you to do. That\u2019s why all drivers, after we will end up doing maybe 300, 400 laps in Bahrain, we try to sort every kind of technique to try and help the driveability and the performance of the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m insisting that the integration of power unit versus gearbox versus driver preferences, it all has to be a closed circle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment one of the two or three things are not exactly how you want is where you start facing issues, so everyone\u2019s going to need to adapt and find the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verstappen may not like his 2026 car, but it could be just what he needs to fight for the world championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen might be Formula 1\u2019s most honest driver, though some would undoubtedly prefer if the Dutchman were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[242706,1724,64,63,689,936,937,64331,242693,242707,4971,242710,241752,2055,242703,242704,21779,242711,42135,241742,242713,242701,49589,2057,140190,817,813,816,22496,242695,242698,242712,16215,1737,242709,825,647,234673,677,242697,18923,51043,12022,242691,242702,242696,16217,113203,16193,231324,242694,2072,242705,3595,2020,85,241731,242708,239771,242700,660,242692,12000,2086,242699],"class_list":["post-476714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-apparent-bid","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-bahrain","tag-barcelona","tag-braking-zones","tag-car-driver-pairing","tag-car-engine-package-looks","tag-carlos-sainz","tag-clear-step","tag-consecutive-laps","tag-constructors-championship","tag-disliked-ground-effect-cars","tag-driver-preferences","tag-drivers-championship","tag-driving-arsenal","tag-elite-group","tag-energy-deployment","tag-energy-recovery","tag-energy-recovery-regime","tag-engine-regulations","tag-europe","tag-exit-clause","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-four-time-champion","tag-hybrid-element","tag-hybrid-motor","tag-imminent-quit-threat","tag-in-house-power-unit","tag-lando-norris","tag-manage-things","tag-max-verstappen","tag-melbourne","tag-mercedes-confident","tag-oceania","tag-pit-garage","tag-power-unit","tag-pre-season-testing","tag-province-of-barcelona","tag-racing-scene","tag-real-clues","tag-real-drama","tag-real-life","tag-real-thing","tag-regulation-changes","tag-representative-conditions","tag-revs-spike","tag-sergio-perez","tag-simulator-sessions","tag-southern-europe","tag-spain","tag-sports","tag-straight-line-deployment","tag-stupid-amount","tag-team-livery","tag-tentative-leader","tag-victoria","tag-way-drivers","tag-western-asia","tag-world-championship","tag-world-motorsport-governing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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