Red Bull deny Monza woes rooted in RB20 rear wing

Helmut Marko has dismissed suggestions that Red Bull’s dismal form in the Italian Grand Prix was caused by the lack of a low-drag skinny rear wing on its RB20 contender.

The reigning world champions were comprehensively outpaced by all their direct rivals at Monza, with Max Verstappen , who qualified seventh, finishing last Sunday’s race only sixth, one spot ahead of Sergio Perez.

The poor result, which has left Red Bull with only an eight-point lead over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship, prompted the Dutchman to warn his team that bidding for the title in both of Formula1’s championships is “not realistic” if it cannot solve its car’s underlying issues.

The RB20’s top speed in qualifying was markedly lower than that of its competitors, with Verstappen and Perez closing out the speed trap readings with 347.2 km/h and 346.8 km/h respectively.

However, Red Bull took a unique approach to last weekend’s event, opting to forego a track-specific Monza wing that other teams had introduced.

While the wing did feature a last element with a reduced chord to reduce load, the component as a whole was nowhere as low-drag as the wings used by its direct rivals.

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Red Bull’s decision, while unconventional, was dictated by cost constraints according to Verstappen.

“You make certain choices under the budget cap,” said the Dutchman. “Instead of a special Monza wing, we spend the money on something else. But when you already have problems, then this makes it even worse, of course.”

While many believed that Red Bull had paid the price for renouncing to run a pure track-specific rear wing at Monza, Marko insisted that a bespoke wing would have only aggravated the tyre degradation issues encountered by its drivers in last Sunday’s race.

“A car with a smaller wing would probably have been even less competitive this weekend, because something like that would be even worse for the tyres” he added.

“That is an important part of the problem.”

Degradation was also the prime reason for Red Bull being unable to run a one-stop race like winner Charles Leclerc, with the team choosing a hard-hard-medium two-stop strategy instead.

“For us it was not possible to do such a thing,” Marko said. “Did you see the tyres? If we had continued two or three more laps, a tyre would have blown.”

Marko admitted that Red Bull found at least some consolation in Leclerc’s strategic gamble paying off, as the Monegasque’s victory on Ferrari’s home turf prevented McLaren from securing a larger points haul.

“I’m extremely happy with Ferrari today, and with the risk they took with that one-stop. This result is perfect for Monza and the way is also nice,” he said.

Regarding the near future, the Austrian suggested that Red Bull’s priority must be to achieve a better-balanced car rather than wiggle its way out of its troubles by throwing more updates on its RB20.

“I don’t know if it’s just in updates,” Marko commented. “The most important thing is to find a better balance in the car again.

“We have to go all the way back in time and see exactly where we took a wrong turn.”

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