Formula 1: Red Bull Racing identify disastrous start problem

Starting problems have plagued Red Bull Racing throughout the 2019 Formula 1 season. But they have identified the underlying issue.

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s first Formula 1 season using Honda engines after ending their 12-year partnership with Renault after last year has resulted in marked improvements and a season of resurgence for the Japanese manufacturer.

Max Verstappen has won two races and collected three additional podium finishes through the first 13 races of the 21-race 2019 season, and he is challenging for second place in the driver standings; even a third place finish would be a new career-high.

But race starts have plagued the Milton Keynes-based team, especially the 21-year-old Dutchman, as getting away from the grid has proven to be especially troublesome in 2019.

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Fortunately yet ironically, two of the races in which their poor starts have been most notable, the Austrian Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix, are the two races that Verstappen has won so far this season to bring his career win total from five to seven.

But in the Belgian Grand Prix, he wasn’t as fortunate.

After yet another poor start, Verstappen lost a couple of positions, and he entered turn one of the 19-turn, 4.352-mile (7.004-kilometer) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps road course in Stavelot, Belgium on the inside of Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen, who had qualified in sixth place alongside Verstappen in fifth.

Raikkonen entered turn one ahead of Verstappen with Verstappen wedged to the inside. With Raikkonen driving his line, Verstappen was squeezed too far to the inside, and the two drivers made contact, sending Raikkonen’s car airborne and breaking Verstappen’s steering rack.

As a result, Verstappen lost control of his car and crashed seconds later, nearly taking out Raikkonen again in the process and ending what was a 21-race streak of top five finishes.

Fortunately, Red Bull Racing have identified the issue that has caused them to have such poor starts so far this season. But according to Verstappen, it may be hard for them to solve. Here is what he had to say about it, according to Formula 1.

"“We know what the problem is but it’s really hard to solve. Hopefully now with the new engine it will be a bit better. As soon as I release the clutch, the bit afterwards is where we seem to struggle a little bit.“To compare it to the last few years let’s say if we had a bad start I wouldn’t lose a position. If I had a good start I would overtake someone. But now if I have a good start I keep my position, and if I have a bad start I’ll lose one or two positions. So that’s the tricky bit.“Of course I cannot go fully into details of what it is, it’s a bit of a secret, but it’s about the drive off the line as soon as I release the clutch, that phase from first to second gear, that is the moment which is a bit tricky.”"

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Will we see an improvement in Red Bull Racing’s race starts, particularly Max Verstappen’s race starts, throughout the remainder of the 2019 Formula 1 season? Verstappen is set to start this Sunday’s race, the Italian Grand Prix, from the back of the grid with an engine penalty. Tune in to ESPN2 at 9:05 a.m. ET for the live broadcast of this race from Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy.

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