The incredible efficiency of Red Bull’s DRS overtaking assist was on full display this season, with Max Verstappen climbing from 15th to second at the circuit in Saudi Arabia.
Verstappen also raised eyebrows when he overtook Lewis Hamilton’s DRS at the Australian Grand Prix, flying past the Mercedes driver with a speed difference of more than 20km/h.
Meanwhile, his team-mate Sergio Perez, who used DRS regularly after a rear start, set a top speed of 341km/h at Albert Park.
Vasseur said his team had to understand how Red Bull got such a drastic reduction in drag from its rear wing design when DRS was engaged.
“They have a huge DRS effect, bigger than anyone else. We have to understand how they do it,” he said.
“They’re doing something different, and they’re definitely doing it better.”
But when asked how surprised he was by Red Bull’s top speed gap, Vassell said the Milton Keynes team’s advantage was actually greater in 2022 as Ferrari had managed to close some of the gap.
“I think the difference may have been bigger last year,” he said. “I think we’ve closed some of the gap. It was probably more pronounced last year. But we still need to improve on that.
“That problem (is) we expected to compensate more, but last year the gap was bigger. But now for sure we have room to improve in that area. We are working on it.”
In qualifying, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were in the middle of the speed trap, but it is important to note that the choice of downforce level can also affect the result.
Polesitter Verstappen was ahead at 328.8 km/h ahead of Perez at 326.7 km/h. Williams’ low-drag design left Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant third and fourth respectively, just 3km/h behind.
At the bottom of the chart, the top speed of the Alfa Romeo duo of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas is almost 10 km/h lower than the Red Bull’s 319 km/h.
Red Bull’s top speed advantage is expected to take hold at the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which features a 2km straight.