Max Verstappen’s simulator complaints reportedly played down by Red Bull engineers for two years

Max Verstappen had constantly pointed out the simulator data error to Red Bull since the past two years.

Max Verstappen’s simulator complaints reportedly played down by Red Bull engineers for two years

Helmut Marko, Max Verstappen, and Christian Horner (via IMAGO)

Red Bull has managed to completely ace the ground-effect era in Formula 1 since the 2022 season. Max Verstappen shattered multiple records in the 2023 season, courtesy of the RB19 chassis. The 2024 season was expected to follow a similar path to the previous two seasons. However, Milton Keynes has already lost out on three races out of eight total. Hence, another shocking revelation about the crucial problem in the chassis has surfaced recently.

Adrian Newey‘s designed cars propelled Max Verstappen to score record-shattering performance. The Red Bull cars were undoubtedly the quickest on the grid. However, Verstappen has been vocal over the issues the team has faced in recent weeks. The Dutchman had claimed that Red Bull was unaware of how to fix the fundamental errors in the chassis.

YouTube video

Another shocking news regarding Red Bull’s chassis issues has popped up recently. Reportedly, Max Verstappen had highlighted the simulator data error for the past two seasons. However, Milton Keynes’ engineer had ignored the feedback from the world champion. Hence, this could’ve been the reason for the simulator data error being so problematic in the recent races.

FS Video

Helmut Marko reveals simulator data and reality ‘don’t correlate’

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko didn’t hesitate to acknowledge Red Bull’s crucial simulator problem. The 80-year-old pointed out that data in reality and the simulator data did not correlate. Additionally, Marko highlighted that the Monaco GP wasn’t the first time that such an issue caused problems in performances.

The problem starts in the simulator, which signalled that the car was going over the curbs perfectly. Simply put, that means that the simulator and reality don’t correlate. And Monaco wasn’t the first race track where we had this problem. It was the first time that it was relatively severe since Singapore.
Helmut Marko said, as reported by f1-insider.com.
Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko
Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko (Credits: IMAGO)

As a result, Red Bull will need to listen more to Max Verstappen’s feedback about the chassis. The team needed to address the issues immediately to disable any late-season challenges. Apart from this issue, Milton Keynes has showcased a very stable and consistent performance in the past two seasons.

The simulator spat out something that didn’t correspond to reality. That’s the first point we’ll address.
Helmut Marko concluded.

Red Bull currently holds the top spot in the constructors’ championship. However, the team can receive major competition from Ferrari and McLaren after their newfound pace. The top-order of the teams is extremely close in competition and could pose a threat to Red Bull. Regardless, the end-season battle will be very exciting for the fans.

In case you missed it: