Max Verstappen he had to deal with a RB18 in 2022 at the beginning of the new era of Formula 1 that didn’t quite work out to his wishes. This was mainly due to the large amount of understeer the car had due to the excessive weight of the car. Verstappen explains what effect it had on his performance.
Admittedly, Verstappen’s season started far from smooth with two retirements in the first three races. After yet another disappointment in Australia, Verstappen had already indicated that he ‘needed 45 races to recover’, but nothing could be further from the truth. When the Dutchman seemed to get to grips with his RB18, that’s why he was there Ferrari there is no more escape. Ultimately, it led to a whopping fifteen wins and a second world title for Limburger in the 22-race season. The last race of the season in Abu Dhabi was also won in a dominant fashion.
Weight RB18
Especially at the beginning of the season, Verstappen had a lot of difficulty keeping the RB18 under control, while Sergio Pérez, for example, seemed able to handle the material well. According to Verstappen, it was mainly due to understeer during low fuel runs, such as qualifying. “He had to do with the weight of the car,” he saysAutosport” href=”https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/verstappen-impossible-for-understeery-f1-car-to-be-fast/10419471/” target=”_blank”>Autosport. “Because it was very overweight, there was an understeer balance. When we were able to get rid of that, the car became much more flexible again.”
Not fast with understeer
The Dutchman continues: “No more nervous, but much more flexible. Finally you could really use the front. In the end, that’s how you really drive a very fast car. A car cannot be fast with understeer, which is impossible ‘ says the man who will be looking for his third world title next season. “Especially with the tires we had this year, it was a lot harder on the car if you had understeer. You can’t have a car like that.”
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