Red Bull issue apology over major F1 car problem

Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché has apologised for a car issue that served as a major limitation during the opening rounds of the current season.

The RB22 proved to be uncompetitive at the opening three rounds of the year, unable to get in the mix at the fight towards the front of the field.

Red Bull arrived back in the paddock in Miami after a five-week gap in the calendar, and Max Verstappen quickly noted an improved sensation behind the wheel before going on to qualify on the front row of the grid.

As part of its extensive upgrade package brought to Florida, Red Bull completely changed its steering rack after identifying the core of the problem.

“First, we had to make sure that he had an issue,” Waché told Autosport.

“Then it was about identifying where it was coming from, and that takes a long time. And after that, it was about fixing the problem.

“I'm sorry that we didn't fix it before. We tried multiple stuff and it didn't work. 

“Some parts also took a long time to arrive, but I think the engineering team did a very good job to achieve it.”

Waché revealed Red Bull was aware of the problem before the April break but could only produce the fix in time for the Miami race.

“A little bit before that [Miami],” he said regarding the timeline of discovering the issue.  

“But the break gave us time to produce the parts, I would say. Otherwise, in Bahrain and Jeddah we would not have had the parts.”