Red Bull's iconic slogan may be "gives you wings," but the Formula 1 team admits it's missing a crucial rear wing design for the unique challenges of the Las Vegas GP.
With Max Verstappen poised to clinch his fourth consecutive drivers' championship by keeping McLaren's Lando Norris at bay, Red Bull faced early struggles on Thursday.
"In the first session we lost between six and nine tenths on all the straights," team advisor Dr Helmut Marko told ORF. "We don't have wings that are as small as our competitors."
Team principal Christian Horner echoed the sentiment, revealing that Red Bull never even designed a wing tailored for low-downforce circuits like Las Vegas. "We simply don't have a rear wing that is specifically designed for circuits with very little downforce," he said. "It costs a lot of money that then you only use it here and in Monza.
"We have modified the wing that we have here to make it smaller," Horner confirmed.
To mitigate the issue, Red Bull engineers removed the gurney flap and trimmed the wing between sessions. However, Verstappen reported a subsequent drop in grip, highlighting the limitations of the compromise.
"We have a lot of work to do if we want to keep up with the frontrunners, but it's not just down to the wing," Marko admitted.
Red Bull's struggles were compounded by strong performances from rivals, particularly Mercedes. "The fact that Mercedes is ahead rather than McLaren could cost Norris more points," Marko observed, offering a silver lining.
Still, the Austrian advisor believes the balance of power may shift as the track evolves. "When there is more grip on the track, the balance of power can shift again," Marko said.
Reflecting on Red Bull's constructors' championship setback, Marko conceded that the gap between Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez played a decisive role. "We have to see that Max wins the drivers' title, then we'll get over the loss of the constructors' more easily," he said.
"Thank God there is still one more session to work on the car, but one thing is clear — a smaller wing, if we had one, would be the solution," Marko added.
While Verstappen showed improvement in the final session immediately before qualifying, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff remained measured. "It was a very fast lap, but it was only one lap," Wolff told Sky Italia.
