Ex-F1 Engineer Pinpoints Max Verstappen’s ‘Instability’ Advantage over Rest of the Competition

Ex-Lotus Engineer Peter Wright believes that Max Verstappen's exceptional ability to overcome RB21's issues is his greatest advantage in F1.

Ex-F1 Engineer Pinpoints Max Verstappen’s ‘Instability’ Advantage over Rest of the Competition

Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

Max Verstappen has kept up with his impressive performances despite suffering from massive issues with Red Bull. Even though McLaren is clearly superior in pace, Verstappen hasn’t given up on contending for the race wins. The Dutchman has remained flawless in his performances on most occasions this year. Now, as the reigning world champion looks to improve his position in the pecking order, former Lotus team engineer Peter Wright reveals the key factor helping the 27-year-old excel to such a remarkable extent.

Max Verstappen has not committed any major mistakes since the beginning of the season, except for a controversial collision at the Spanish GP, primarily due to Red Bull’s strategic blunder. The Dutchman has maximized his points haul at every race weekend, despite being at a significant disadvantage against the leading McLarens. As a result, Verstappen has earned widespread praise throughout the paddock, with even a legendary engineer showing support for the four-time world champion.

Peter Wright pointed out that Max Verstappen’s ability to control the instability of the Red Bull challenger at high speeds has helped him massively in scoring such extraordinary results. Verstappen appears to be unfazed by the unstable car performance, which has remained a big positive for him this year. This has also given the Dutchman an edge over rivals who struggle under similar conditions and often make mistakes when dealing with high-speed issues.

There was a wonderful shot of Verstappen being unstable at high speeds in the last few laps. You see he can cope with instability — a lot of drivers can’t.

Peter Wright said on Peter Windsor’s YouTube channel

Peter Wright noted that a majority of the drivers struggled to cope with high-speed oversteering issues. The former Lotus Engineer recalled his days with the team and how the drivers under him complained about these issues. However, Max Verstappen has remained uninterested in considering this to be a massive hurdle in his way of performing well, as he continues to contend for the race wins.

I’ve [been] with Lotus, there were drivers who said ‘I can’t cope with high-speed oversteer, don’t let me have a high-speed oversteer.’

Peter Wright added

Peter Wright asserts Red Bull’s car built ‘around’ Max Verstappen

Red Bull’s cars are famously known to be handled exceptionally well by Max Verstappen alone. The Dutchman has a very aggressive approach to driving and remains unbothered by the car’s issues. Verstappen’s deep knowledge of driving enables him to face all adversities head-on and continue delivering impressive results. Hence, Peter Wright reveals how Milton Keynes’ cars are built around the 27-year-old’s unique driving style.

Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase (via Red Bull Content Pool)
Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase (via Red Bull Content Pool)

Peter Wright pointed out that Max Verstappen’s talent allows the team to set up the car inclined towards the latter. Red Bull sets up the car more aggressively as the No. 2 driver faces major issues in coping with the problems. Meanwhile, Verstappen extracts the maximum performance out of the car as it is slightly similar to his driving style on the track.

For Max Verstappen, his talent allows Red Bull to set up the car more aggressively so more performance can be extracted from it.

Peter Wright noted

Red Bull still has a massive performance gap left to be covered in order to regain their lost winning form. Despite dominating a majority of the ground-effect era, the team has gone from being the hero to a complete zero. Hence, the team must achieve an immediate turnaround in pace and performance by the coming races to retain Verstappen’s interest in the team beyond this season.

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