Despite Christian Horner’s denial that the new technical directive TD-018 could have been the cause of Red Bull’s debacle in Singapore, Luigi Mazzola, a historic Ferrari engineer, is convinced it influenced the Milton Keynes team. For the first time since 2018, both cars were eliminated in Q2. Furthermore, not only did they fail to win the race, but we also saw a race without Red Bull on the podium for the first time.
Mazzola doubts that TD-018 had no impact on Red Bull
After yet another seasonal victory in Monza, few doubted that someone could seriously challenge Red Bull for pole position, let alone victory, on the spectacular Marina Bay circuit.
However, the Singapore weekend coincided with the introduction of a new technical directive, following the aftermath of TD-39, which had hindered F1-75. This directive was strongly desired by the federation to prevent the flexibility of aerodynamic components so that no team could gain a timekeeping advantage from it.
After Red Bull’s worrying Friday and Saturday, culminating in a double elimination in Q2, Christian Horner, the team principal of the Milton Keynes team, had categorically ruled out that the directive had negatively impacted the RB19.
“Our simulation before Friday didn’t lead us in the right direction. We simply ended up in the wrong window. This highlighted some of the weaknesses of our car.”
According to the Briton, therefore, the Singapore nightmare should simply be attributed to an incorrect setup choice and nothing more. However, Luigi Mazzola does not share the same opinion. He expressed some perplexity after the double knockout in qualifying, instead praising Ferrari’s performance.
“What extraordinary qualifications! But everything is strange. It’s not all normal because it’s essentially a new circuit, and there is a new technical directive in force. These may be coincidences or, let’s say, logical situations, but they have completely upset the situation with a Red Bull out of sync since Friday and a Ferrari performing brilliantly, about which there is nothing to say.”
“In practice and in qualifying, it was really strong. An impeccable Carlos Sainz with a very precise driving style, a very well-balanced car with which he managed to get the pole position. This is a great result for both Formula 1 and Ferrari.”
While it still seems very difficult to believe that the Red Bull collapse in Singapore can be simply justified by the introduction of the new technical directive, it is equally challenging to find another plausible explanation for what was seen over the past weekend.
The next race in Suzuka will represent the acid test in this regard. On paper, Red Bull should have an easy time at Honda’s home GP. However, in case of further difficulties, Engineer Mazzola’s doubts may become more than mere perplexities.
Source: f1ingenerale
