Last Updated on November 5 2024, 2:10 pm
The 2024 Formula One season could be one for the record books as three teams enter the final triple header run in, each capable of claiming the constructors’ championship. The difference in prize money drops from around $140m to the winning team, $131m to second and $122m for third where Red Bull lies currently.
With Max Verstappen on the edge of his forth consecutive drivers title, the problem for Red Bull lies with their second driver, Sergio Perez. The Mexican is the only one of the top eight teams drivers not to win a race this season and he currently sits in a mere 151 points while his team mate has 393.
Perez percentage of his team mates score for the year is just over 38%, the kind of result a rookie would expect against their more experienced team mate. Taking the Williams pay driver of Logan Sargeant out of the equation, the most recent rookie score against a top team mate was last year with Oscar Piastri going up against Lando Norris.
Red Bull in free fall
Piastri ended the year with 97 to Lando’s 205 giving him an exceptional score for a rookie of 47% of his team mates total points for the season.
With Max winning seven of the first ten races this season, the problem of Perez lack of form was manageable, as by the end of round 12 at Silverstone, the world champions had established a 71 point lead over their nearest rivals.
Whilst Perez continued to stumble along, the problem for Red Bull came when Verstappen was no longer wining. His previous victory before last weekend in Brazil was back in round ten in Spain since when McLaren have outscored Red Bull by some 120 points.
Despite his winless streak, Verstppen has racked up some 138 points since the BritishGrand Prix, while Checo’s miserable return is just 31. Red Bull’s problem is obvious for all to see, yet the team have remained steadfastly loyal to their Mexican driver.
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Latest team to team controversy
As each Formula One season progresses, paddock politics play out as teams attempt to get one over their rivals. This has seen rows over ‘flexi wings’, ‘mini DRS’ functions and most recently McLaren lambasted Red Bull in Mexico for their ‘adjustable’ T-tray (front ride height).
Red Bull are now hitting back at the leaders in the F1 constructors’ title race having suggested to the FIA that McLaren are experimenting by adding water into the race tyres. This is against the regulations as Red Bull know well given its rumoured they experimented with this some years ago before being shut down by the FIA.
As engineers move from team to team, they take knowledge with them of how their former employer operates. This includes all the grey areas of the rules where the teams have sought to gain an advantage via loopholes in the FIA regulations. The suggestion from German publication AMuS is that ex-Red Bull employees who have moved to McLaren in recent years are responsible for initiating this procedure.
Putting water into a race cars tyre, injected in small quantities through the valve, is supposed to help the tyres remain cooler for longer meaning the car will be kinder on its tyre wear for longer in race trim. “The FIA is already investigating the allegations,” the German magazine reports.
Pirelli boss says ‘water in the tyres’ counterproductive
Pirelli F1 boss, Mario Isola, was approached for his thoughts on the matter but the Italian appeared surprised at the idea when asked for comment. “I had to figure out for myself what it was even about and how it worked,” he said.
“Some of the water evaporates, some of it remains liquid,” Isola continued. “This allows the heat to be dissipated more easily into the rim. However, the pressure can no longer be controlled as well with the higher moisture in the tyre. The pressure increases more, reducing performance.”
Of course with F1 tyre temperatures ranging from c.90-110 degrees celsius half way through that range, the water would begin to boil and evaporate, increasing the pressure of the tyres which is usually not what a driver would wish to have.
Minimum tyre pressures were established by Pirelli following a row with Red Bull during the Vettel era over the team running the pressers way too low, to increase traction. The team also ran an aggressive camber on their car, which decreased the time required to get heating the rubber.
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Singapore revealed wet rims after the race
As with many areas of Formula one, the use of tyres are heavily regulated. Each tyre across the weekend has a unique bar code to identify it and Pirelli mount the tyres onto the rims provided by the teams.
As with many aspects of F1, tires are extremely well regulated. Every tyre features a barcode scanned by Pirelli to track its use, and Pirelli itself mounts a team’s tyre onto its wheels.
Add to this the ever present Pirelli and FIA officials and it seems nigh on impossible that the ‘water trick’ could be performed – though not impossible. Isola concluded stating he would work closely with the FIA to investigate the allegations closely.
Tyre-gate apparently emerged at the recent Singapore Grand Prix as it was noticed when moisture was spotted inside some of the wheel rims after the tyres were stripped from the cars after the race.
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Verstappen plays his part
As part of the propaganda from Red Bull about McLaren, Max Verstappen did his job in Brazil when he questioned about the rapid progress their rivals have made. “It’s actually quite strange,” reports Dutch publication De Telegraaf.
“If you look at our car compared to last year, we really made a step in qualifying and also in terms of race pace. The other teams also made a good step in qualifying, but in the race an even bigger one.
“That’s something we find very difficult to understand,” hinted Verstappen.
Whether McLaren or any others have been injecting small amounts of water into the tyres will come out in the wash, although the FIA is unlikely to take retrospective action against anyone in breach of the regulations – given the recent precedent set when they refused to follow Zak Brown’s demands for a “thorough look through.”
Lando’s “shameful” social media posting is bizarre
Lando Norris kissed good bye to any lingering hopes he had of becoming the 2024 F1 drivers’ world champion at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. McLaren had an impressive start to the weekend with Oscar Piastri claiming pole position in Sprint qualifying and the team from Woking brought home the 1-2 in the shortened version of the Grand Prix.
Come GP qualifying which had been postponed until Sunday morning, this was the definition of a “whole new day.” Lando was on the cusp of going out in Q1 but scraped through only to pip George Russell to the pole by the smallest of margins.
Meanwhile an ill timed red flag had seen Verstappen exit in Q2 and when his five place grid drop for a new ICE was applied, this would see the world champion start P17… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
