The departure of Adrian Newey is too simple an explanation for Red Bull’s performance slide, team consultant Dr Helmut Marko insists.
The team is not hiding either the progressively worsening handling of its 2024 car, nor that the engineers even fully understand what is going wrong.
Some think the explanation is as simple as the departure of ’genius’ technical brain Adrian Newey.
"That is not true," Marko wrote in his latest Speed Week column. "Newey was no longer involved in all the details of car development since the spring."
However, the 81-year-old Austrian does admit that Red Bull is missing Newey.
"This cannot be denied, of course," said Marko. "Newey is Newey, a man with incredible experience. But our problem lies elsewhere.
"The examples of Mercedes and, to a lesser extent, Ferrari, have shown just how difficult dealing with these wing cars can be."
Red Bull suspects that while multiple car upgrades throughout 2024 so far added downforce, they totally messed up the handling and balance characteristics that Max Verstappen needs to make his talent shine.
"We realised at Monza that there is a massive, fundamental problem with our car. Hopefully, the tyre testing taking place in Monza this week might help us get back on the right track."
Liam Lawson was at the wheel of the Red Bull for Pirelli’s 2025 tyre testing on Tuesday, and he will switch to the junior RB cockpit on Wednesday.
Interestingly, RB’s latest upgrade - used only on Yuki Tsunoda’s car at Monza - also turned out to be a flop. "Yuki was extremely unhappy with it," Marko said. "He found the car more or less undriveable.
"We also believe that comparing the findings from the wind tunnel and the race track is also part of the problem," added the Austrian.
The good news is that Marko insists that Red Bull is starting to understand the issue. He says Verstappen had a breakthrough moment at Zandvoort, and told his bosses and engineers in a series of Zoom calls what he now needs changed.
"Max recognised where the weakness of the car lies on Saturday," Marko told De Telegraaf newspaper. "A decision was made together with the engineers on how we can improve the car and make it competitive again.
"We just have to find out which part made the car worse. If we knew that already, we would not be in this situation."
Marko thinks Red Bull can still rescue its hopes in both the constructors’ and drivers’ championships.
"The lead in the constructors’ has shrunk to eight points," he said. "But we certainly don’t have to write anything off yet.
"Because if Max starts winning again, then finishes between third and fifth for Checo (Perez) will be enough to successfully defend this title."