Sergio Perez’s deficit in this year’s Formula 1 championship to Max Verstappen, evidenced by the Dutchman’s 19 victories compared to the Mexican’s only 2 in 2023, has put the “Czech” in a difficult position at Red Bull Racing and brought him criticism or ridicule. However, this criticism is very harsh and sometimes unfair.

The same criticism was received by Alex Albon, a high-ranking driver like Perez who, apart from Verstappen’s shadow, is making great appearances at Red Bull Racing. Albon spent a year and a half in the Dutchman’s garage next door at RBR before being demoted to the team’s reserve driver in 2021 before moving to Williams in 2022.

The Anglo-Thai driver offered detailed information on the “High Performance” podcast about the parameters that lead Verstappen to “destroy” the drivers in the cockpit of Red Bull Racing’s other car.

Albon initially rejected the overly simplistic explanation that RBR designs its cars according to Verstappen’s driving style. The team’s technical director, Pierre Vas, noted this last year, saying: “You know, when we develop the car, we always look to improve its performance as much as possible.”

Albon confirmed it. And he explained that Red Bull happens to give its cars the virtue of a perfectly precise front end, a virtue that suits Verstappen’s driving style. Precise front end means lack of understeer, that is, absolute grip of the front wheels, their absolute reaction to the commands of the steering wheel, which allows precise entry into the curve without the slightest slip.

“Many say that the car is based on him, similar to Michael Schumacher Ferrari, that the team is built around him”Albon said of Verstappen. “Honestly, the car is what it is, [ο Φερστάπεν] He is also very fast, but has such a distinctive driving style that it is not easy to follow him.

Everyone has their own driving style, I would say mine is softer, but I like the car to have a good front end, more precisely, very direct. Max also likes the same thing, but is on a completely different level of precision and immediacy [του εμπρός μέρους].

His accuracy is amazing. To explain what this might mean: It’s like turning up your computer’s mouse sensitivity to the maximum and every time you touch the mouse, the arrow on the screen moves like crazy. It’s such precision that you get a little nervous.”added the Williams driver.

However, Albon admitted that while Red Bull did not design its cars around Verstappen, its development over the year was based on further front-end precision and responsiveness, noting that Verstappen became faster as a result.

And Albon explained: “What happens, especially the year I was there, is that at the start of the season you’re a little bit behind, not by much, but as time goes on Max wants the front of the car to get more and more precise and precise and more.

The more precise it becomes, the faster it becomes, and to follow it you have to take more and more risks. In a test session, you might be a tenth or two behind, so you try to climb a little more, end up falling, and have to start all over again.

But then you lose a little bit of confidence, you need a little more time, the distance increases, and the next time you go on the track you have a 4-a-ke again or something like that. It takes that away in the form of an avalanche. Every time the front of the car becomes sharper and more precise, you become more nervous.

That’s how it is in any sport, when you come out of a situation where everything is going well, you have to think more about what you’re doing and every time you get into a corner you don’t know how you’re going to do react [το αυτοκίνητο]then nothing works and never works.”concluded Alex Albon.