US GP Mexico GP São Paulo GP
The opening of this three-race sequence featured Red Bull reeling from the loss of its inspirational founder Dietrich Mateschitz and having its cost cap breach penalty formalised. But on track the steamroller continued unabated, with Max Verstappen setting a new all-time record for the number of victories during a season and Red Bull sealing its fifth constructors’ title. But even for the most dominant teams, the next banana skin can be just around the corner.
Verstappen’s dominance of the season might give the impression that he simply turns up, drives and wins the race. That actually happens quite rarely and despite the sophistication of the simulation tools used
by all the top teams, there is almost always a set-up puzzle to work through first. Even at Red Bull. That was the case at both Austin and Mexico City, where the puzzle was solved. At Interlagos, it wasn’t.
Around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin it was all about how to access the theoretical peak grip of the soft tyre over a qualifying lap. With its long, fast corners and bumpy surface this track intensifies the generic 2022 challenge of balancing the front and rear tyre temperatures. The fronts generally want to run too cool, the rears too hot and so the preparation lap is an intricate, complex dance of brake bias, throttle and entry speeds, different for each corner.
The Red Bull drivers invariably have
