Red Bull have suffered some lacklustre results this season but Max Verstappen is still on the verge of his fourth world championship.
The Austrian team have dropped to third place in the Constructors’ Championship as McLaren and Ferrari are pushing for that title.
In Formula 1, the margins are so fine that a small change to the dynamic of the car can affect performance over a season.
The ground-effect cars in particular can be difficult to set up as the teams try to run them as low to the track as possible.
There has been a new FIA technical directive introduced ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix that was originally meant to be brought in next year.
The technical directive is affecting the skid blocks of the cars and Ted Kravitz explained on Sky Sports F1 that Red Bull aren’t ready to say one thing about it in public.
Red Bull won’t say whether the technical directive will ‘disadvantage them’
The details of the technical directive weren’t released to the media so there is little information about it ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
It will affect all 10 teams and the skid blocks are critical to sparks that are created when the cars hit the ground, especially on bumpy tracks.
Red Bull have had to change their car ahead of the first race of the triple-header as well as Mercedes and Ferrari.
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Kravitz explained that the FIA are closing a loophole in the regulations towards the end of the year that was planned to be brought in next season.
He said: “It’s quite an interesting thing, actually. Just to clarify what I was saying, Red Bull aren’t going on the record and saying that it’s not going to disadvantage them, but it might do the others. To be clear about it, it’s affecting everybody.
“There was a little loophole in the regulations which said that the fixing with these skid blocks, the titanium blocks that’s making all these lovely sparks on this bumpy circuit.
“Those bits that are protecting them could then help you not wear your plank away and not wear the skid blocks away, and then get this disqualified, which is, of course, not what you want to do. Red Bull have had to change their car the same as Mercedes and same as Ferrari.”
The new technical directive could affect the championship battle
Verstappen can win the world championship in Las Vegas if he outscores his nearest rival, Lando Norris, at the third race in America this year.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix will reveal more about the technical directive’s effect and whether it favours one team more than the other.
It may give the British driver an opportunity to take the title fight onto Qatar next time out but Norris may need to work on his mentality ahead of next season.
The Las Vegas Strip Circuit is a unique challenge, as the low temperatures and minimal levels of downforce can make it difficult to heat the brakes.
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