Why Red Bull got thrashed by McLaren’s latest F1 upgrade

McLaren's amazing pace Red Bull had no answer for mcclaren's Pace when Formula 1 season resumed after the summer break at xanor as Lando Norris dominated the Dutch Grand Prix from Pole Position it wasn't just the fact they were beaten that makes Max for STA and Red Bull seriously worried but by how much this was the fifth time McLaren out qualified Red Bull in 2024 but the margin was more than twice its biggest advantage of the Season Norris translated that pace into an easy victory in the race with the biggest winning margin of the season so far that made this only the second weekend of 201 24 when McLaren had an unquestionable and decisive performance advantage over Red Bull the first being hungry in July there were other races where McLaren could and should have won but its Pace relative to Red Bull and at times Mercedes and Ferrari was similar the strong xanor showing followed the introduction of what McLaren team principal Andrea Stella called a substantial upgrade package while not as big as the upgrade introduced for May Miami Grand Prix that transformed McLaren season this was still another clear step forward for McLaren as always multiple factors fed in into its Pace advantage in qualifying particularly TI preparation was essential and as Stella argued Norris's advantage of just over three and a half T in qualifying was far beyond the performance gain of the upgrades but the improvement from the upgrade played a part so too the fact that the more benign and aerodynamically robust McLaren was less badly affected by the wi than the Red Bull on top of that what Stella called the Lando Norris Factor was significant sanval wasn't out of line with the pattern before the summer break of McLaren having the best allround car but one that isn't necessarily really quite as fast as the Red Bull when the rb20 is at its peak but it does show McLaren is only getting stronger while McLaren is only getting Red Bull's struggles better Red Bull's troubles continued at sort as for STA and put it compared to Norris he felt a bit more all over the place with the balance in his rb20 not only did Red Bull have no significant upgrades but it also rolled back aspects of previous upgrades in a bid to improve a car that has had a very narrow performance window on a good day say in qualifying in Austria or in the wet at Spar it can have a big Advantage but too often its limitations hold it back in terms of performance upgrades Red Bull had only a modified Halo fairing featuring Ferrari style Cobra winglets and tweaked Wing mer stays while the team said these both offered a downforce gain in terms of improving the airf flow to other parts of the car the time Advantage would have been minor but Red Bull's main focus is on understanding its problems the dramatically revised engine cover Bodywork introduced on for sten's car in Hungary then removed for lower downfall Spar returned at sandvoort this time both drivers ran as Sergio Perez didn't in Hungary owing to a lack of available Parts however there was a difference in floor speec between the two drivers the stappen reverted to the start of season floor while Perez ran a version that was closer to the latest specification that featured a different surface shape and edges but while there are some visible differences the most significant variations were out of view in the underfloor so it's impossible to gauge just how different the two specs were what we do know is that this mix and match approach was very much an interim measure a case of making the best of it while waiting for a proper up upgrade down the line as for stappen says there is no magic button but there is a reason for optimism an upgrade is in the pipeline for deployment soon and Sergio Perez who had an unremarkable run to six in the race believes the knowledge gained at sanv will help the team ramp up its upgrade in the coming weekends Red Bull also felt that the configuration Perez ran in was the stronger of the two in terms of pace the big question is whether Red Bull can tackle the problems of its stiff ride a limiting factor that has made life difficult on bumpy tracks and where significant curb riding is needed and the need to make it an easier car to drive within what can be changed this year theen has been critical of the car for some time and that continued at svore where he said over the radio that the car doesn't respond to his inputs and complained about the poor balance the gains made haven't been as significant as hoped in 2024 particularly in Faster Corners although at zort it was often the slower Corners that were the problem as technical director Pierre vashet admitted in a recent interview with Autosport it's possible Red Bull is pushing up against the ceiling of the rb20 that means that while changes will be easier to make for 2025 Red Bull might be limited in what it can do this year and that could decide the world championship with nine races remaining Red Bull is still in a strong position in the driver's Championship which for STA and lead by 70 points but the constructor's championship situation is far more paress as its Advantage has dropped to just 30 points with McLaren outscoring Red Bull in eight of the past nine race weekends upgrades are coming and Red Bull at least appears to have helped Perez unlock more performance to limit the losses but McLaren sandvoort success will have piled on the pressure McLaren xort package was characterized McLaren's upgrades by Norris as its first proper upgrade since Miami what McLaren introduced was not visually striking not least because the side pods remained unchanged but it did include changes to the front brake duct scoop front and rear suspension fairings and floor Edge a new high down Force rear wing and beam Wing package also appeared improving the efficiency of the drag reduction when the DRS is deployed something Norris felt was key to overtaking the stappen in the race Stella says that these are the final updates to these areas for 2024 however there are still upgrades to other parts to come in upcoming races the fact the package works so well is Testament to the depth of McLaren's understanding that's built up at the track with a largely unchanged car along with high quality simulation tools at its Factory chief designer Rob Marshall described this as racing in a more old school way not throwing constant small updates at the car it's an approach that appears to pay dividends particularly compared to Red Bull the McLaren is now a true allrounder losing a little of its fast Corner Supremacy to be stronger in the slower St the fact it performs so mightily at zort historically a weak track is proof of how far it has come although Stella warned that who has the fastest car could still depend on conditions as for Norris he suggested that McLaren was destined to have dominated at zort even without the upgrades there's more to come meaning McLaren should be a threat across the remaining nine races of the Season Norris's dominant weekend M he Norris steps up delivered on his stated objective ahead of the weekend of delivering at world champion level Norris executed superbly in several key areas first disqualifying lap was outstanding giving him Pole Position by three and 1 half T over V stappen and outpacing teammate Oscar pastri by half a second secondly despite losing the lead to for stappen at the start after as he put it going into wheel spin in the second phase he closed on the Red Bull and passed for stappen during the first stint the start is the main area for concern it's an area Norris says he's Keen to improve although mcclaren's analysis has not found any consistent weakness in this area sanval was the seventh time in races this year including Sprints when Norris has lost at least one position at the start and the fourth time it's happened in a row McLaren is well aware The Constructor Championship is on the cards but rightly sees the driver's title as still not worth giving serious consideration as Stella points out if McLaren can maximize its results in the upcoming races then that could change things after all if you get the points the championship will take care of itself Norris still talks of his desire to fight for the title and the need to have a strong second half of the season to have any chance of that zanor was the perfect start even though verstappen's ability to drag every iota of performance from the C means he limited the damage by banking 18 points Ferrari struggled at zanol even Outside threat more than anticipated its upgrades to fix the pping problems it has battled are still being worked on but even so it was worse than expected in qualifying trim during this phase of 2023 Ferrari hit trouble but solved its problems rapidly but as charlot cler says it doesn't have the same quick fix this year while the race pace of the car was strong enough for L cler to finish third at sort Ferrari is not currently a factor in the battle for wins and therefore can't affect the Red Bull versus McLaren battle too much however Mercedes is usually quick enough to disrupt it the new Mercedes floor that ran on Friday at spa but wasn't used for qualifying all the race returned at sort according to Trackside engineering director Andrew shovelin it worked well Mercedes looked a threat for pole position after practice but qualifying didn't go well Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 although he had the underlying Pace to have made the top 10 George Russell did reach Q3 but only managed fourth place thanks to Tire temperature troubles the race then went badly with Russell seventh having run third in the first stint and Hamilton e8th after both opted to make a second pit stop for softs Mercedes perhaps underachieved at xanor but its Pace at times proved that it will continue to be in the thick of the fight at the front this year and that could help or hinder Red Bull and McLaren depending on who Mercedes takes points off what's clear is that McLaren and Norris have started the 10 Race running determined to improve their strike rat with an upgraded car that's capable of consistent wins zandvoort is not the most representative track especially considering the windy conditions and the next race at Monza could be a more different circuit in terms of car demands but what the Dutch Grand Prix weekend proved is that red bull is still on the back foot and that means McLaren is ideally placed to continue its run towards at least one world championship