The Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend could be a special event for the Red Bull team as Max Verstappen could clinch his fourth world title.
It has been a strange season for the Austrian team as they were so dominant in the opening 10 rounds before Ferrari and, in particular, McLaren improved significantly.
Red Bull sit third in the Constructors’ Championship and are unlikely to retain their championship due to a lack of consistency and Sergio Perez’s poor form.
They haven’t had a faultless weekend in Las Vegas as they don’t have an ultra-low downforce rear wing due to reasons surrounding the budget cap.
This means Red Bull are running with higher downforce than a lot of their rivals, losing time on the back straight.
Ted Kravitz and his cameraman on Sky Sports F1 spotted the Red Bull team principal Christian Horner looking frustrated in the garage.
Christian Horner was frustrated as Red Bull were adjusting the cars rear wings
The Red Bull mechanics were drilling at the rear wing to get rid of some carbon fibre and reduce as much drag as possible to give them more top speed on the straights.
A higher downforce wing may make Verstappen and Perez easy to pass on the circuit as the Dutchman has the opportunity to take his fourth title.
The changes did improve Red Bull’s top speed, and Verstappen dragged his car into fifth place on the grid ahead of his title rival Norris in qualifying.
The weekend has been much more difficult for Perez, who got knocked out in Q1 and will start the race from 16th on the grid.
Danica Patrick urged Perez to retire as he continues to struggle in Formula 1 and flounder in the midfield at Red Bull.
READ MORE: Martin Brundle tells Red Bull ‘bad news’ of Sergio Perez Q1 exit at Las Vegas Grand Prix
Kravitz explained Horner was trying to not make his frustrations so obvious as the start of the weekend was very difficult.
He said: “And look at this shot that we managed to catch Christian Horner, the boss that you spoke to after free practice three. Christian Horner’s actually having a joke with his head of communications about it, about how much they had to trim away of the rear wing.
“So with the loss of some carbon fibre came the gain of some speed. And while the other parts of the rear wing are interesting, if you actually have a look at the edges, that’s where a lot of the drag that is slowing this rear wing down comes from.
“Those sharp edges, those 90-degree corners. It works on higher downforce circuits, doesn’t work so well here.”
Red Bull made need to make a decision on Sergio Perez’s future soon
Perez has made continuous errors this season and cost the Red Bull team a lot of points in the championship standings.
The Mexican does have a contract with the Austrian team for next year but he has been a big part of Red Bull’s slump to third in the Constructors’ Championship.
Liam Lawson is impressing at RB, while Argentine Franco Colapinto has been hinted at as a candidate for Red Bull to partner Verstappen.
If Perez were to continue next year he would need to improve as McLaren and Ferrari have two established drivers capable of winning races.
Leave feedback about this