Why are other F1 teams 'not as strong as' Red Bull?

Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough claims that most of the grid isn't as fast as Red Bull in a straight line and in high-speed corners. The Austrian team is by far the strongest team down the straight, having wholly changed their car's characteristics from previous years.

While the Milton Keynes-based team's car has been great in most conditions, it particularly excels at tracks such as Spa and Monza, i.e., tracks that have straights. The car hasn't been particularly strong on street circuits like Monaco and is expected to not be as feisty as Ferrari and Mercedes in Singapore this weekend.

While discussing his team's car, Aston Martin's performance director Tom McCullough claimed that no other team is as strong as Max Verstappen's team in the high-speed corners, making them the benchmark for all others on the grid.

He told Motorsport:

“Our big focus has been to also improve the car in the high-speed corners, which we have been doing of late. From the Red Bull side of things, their car is very efficient and very fast in a straight line, and we're not as strong as them. But neither is most of the grid.”

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Max Verstappen is unconcerned by his Red Bull's weight disadvantage at 2022 F1 Singapore GP

Max Verstappen is unconcerned by his car's overweight issues at the 2022 F1 Singapore GP. The reigning world champion struggled with understeer in Monaco – a track similar to the Marina Bay Circuit. At the F1 Monaco GP this season, he finished third on the grid after being out-qualified and outperformed by Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen could clinch his second world title in the upcoming race in Singapore if he outscores Charles Leclerc by 22 points or more. The issue of an overweight car, leading to understeer, however, was looming over his chances of securing the championship in Singapore.

This time, however, the Red Bull driver is not worried about his car's weight-related issues around the street circuit. He claimed that the right setup could help his team in Singapore. Max Verstappen told the media:

“[Monaco] was just the wrong place for the car to be overweight. That’s why we’re just understeering and where a lot more prone to front-locking, but I don’t think it will be a problem in Singapore. But maybe we encounter different kinds of things. We haven’t been there in a while and it’s normally quite a bumpy track. We just need to work on the setup, see how these cars react to the bumps, and try to go as fast as possible.”

It remains to be seen if the Dutchman can clinch his second title in Singapore this weekend. With the track expected to suit Ferrari more than Verstappen's team, however, fans will be in the dark about the status of the 2022 F1 world championship until Sunday evening.