Max Verstappen has been the most dominating driver on the grid this season. And a considerable part of the credit goes to the Red Bull car. The developments made by the team have ensured that they stay miles ahead of the competition. But domination can only prevail if certain trade secrets remain secrets.

At the Monaco GP, Sergio Perez crashed into the barriers at Turn 1 in Q1. As if that was not enough, a crane hoisted his RB19 out of the tracks, revealing the entire floor design. Following the incident, TV presenter Rosanna Tenant revealed, on the F1: Chequered Flag Podcast, that Lewis Hamilton joked with her about having the photos of the RB19 floor on his phone and how he zoomed in to inspect the entire thing.

Max Verstappen Unfazed by Competition

In a sport like F1, where the teams have limited budgets and upgrades cost hundreds of thousands, smaller teams can benefit from imitating the frontrunners. But Verstappen is unbothered by the chatter around the RB19 floor.

The Dutchman said, “Of course, it’s not great, but on the other hand the other teams are not stupid either. Even if they were to copy it completely, that doesn’t fit the philosophy of their car. You then still have to adjust a lot of things. That’s the same for us: we can’t put someone else’s sidepod on, that’s just not how the car works.”

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The Dutchman also hinted at future developments, saying, “In the end, I don’t think it matters very much. This is our floor now, but in a few races, we will have a new floor again. That one will be completely different again.”

Even if their rivals did take inspiration from their design, imitation would only be a step behind. After the 2020 Racing Point fiasco, everybody knows that copying competitors’ cars come with a considerable cost to the team.

Racing Point Replicates 2019 Mercedes

In 2020, Racing Point was accused of copying parts of the 2019 Mercedes W10, which was the fastest car on the grid that year. The cars looked so identical that the RP20 was being called a ‘Pink Mercedes’.

At the beginning of the season, that proved to be a masterstroke from Lawrence Stroll, as the RP20 was one of the quickest cars on the grid. But the other Team Principals started complaining about the similarities. Eventually, it was Renault’s complaint that the FIA acted on. They fined Racing Point 400,000 Euros and deducted 15 points.

Since then, all teams have been wary of replicating others. Copying the fastest car on the track might get them faster, but only till they eventually lose points and money in fines.

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This season, it seems as if Verstappen can only be beaten if he voluntarily gives up the championship. And with new upgrades in store for the RB19, the Dutchman might only get faster.