Windows of operation are curious things. As humans we are programmed to be habitual and unless consistently confronted with change, our ability to adapt when revision is required can be a slow process – even for whippersnappers like Max Verstappen.
If you’ve ever had the misfortune of driving a 900 Series Volvo, you’d understand the effort required is akin to delivering a newly purchased Goldfish home in a Sherman tank.
Suppose then – when having to appease your child’s grief by taking them go-karting – you’re now forced to recalibrate how you drive in a vehicle that requires about as much steering lock as Nicki Minaj does clothing.
In exaggerated terms, this is what Verstappen is now experiencing at Red Bull. He’ll work his way through it, but Monaco was probably the worst place to experiment.
Toro Rosso’s STR10 is by no means a bad car – in fact, it’s probably one of the best chassis on the grid – but compared to the RB12 I dare say there’s enough of a difference to scare a Ladybug nesting on Monaco’s swimming pool armco.
My friend Leanne Boon was photographing on the inside of that barrier and her nerves of steel produced a shot that spoke volumes about the way Verstappen hustles Formula One machinery. As if anticipating the front-end of the car to slide fractionally, Max compensates with a slightly aggressive steering input, only the RB12 complies a little too well.
Upon first inspection, it looks as though Verstappen is intentionally trying to drive through the barrier, but the car slides (albeit not quite enough), to a glancing blow rather than a massive impact. If Verstappen had been driving an STR10, I dare say he’d have made it through.
Unlike Daniel Ricciardo, Verstappen hasn’t had the benefit of a winter testing period to iron out the residual idiosyncrasies he developed while driving the Toro Rosso.
It wasn’t so evident at the slightly more expansive layout at Barcelona (where Verstappen took his first win), but was visible to see at Monaco with three incidents; locking up during practice and hitting the barriers at Massenet, his aforementioned indiscretion in Q1 and once again at Massenet during the race.
The last incident is telling. While on intermediates, the fine edge of the RB12 would have been slightly blunted, allowing Verstappen to revert back to his natural style. Verstappen was visibly the quickest in the changes condition.
An undaunted Verstappen simply powered through a hairy moment through the tunnel (where the moisture level would have changed considerably), but the change to slicks put him back to square one and he was caught out once again overdriving through Massenet.
Giancarlo Fisichella was always fantastic to watch in less than perfect machinery. His 2003 Brazil Grand Prix win for Jordan is testament to that, yet once placed in a truly competitive R25 alongside Fernando Alonso he struggled in comparison.
I don’t expect Verstappen to have the same dramas as Fisichella, but we’ll know for sure in September around the serpentine confines of Singapore’s Marina Bay.
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