Red Bull’s decision to use a higher-drag rear wing at the Las Vegas Grand Prix left them struggling for speed on the long straights.

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit, much like Monza, requires a low-drag setup to achieve the best performance on high-speed sections. However, Red Bull brought a rear wing that produced more drag, which put them at a clear disadvantage compared to teams like Mercedes and McLaren, who had wings better suited for the fast straights.

The effect of this choice was significant, with GPS data during Friday practice sessions showing that Red Bull’s car was up to 7 km/h slower on the straights than its competitors. In an attempt to fix the problem, the team removed a Gurney flap from the rear wing, but it didn’t make enough of a difference.

Red Bull hasn’t developed a low-drag rear wing due to budget cap restrictions, but Max Verstappen believes this is a choice that needs to be reconsidered.

“We opted to not make one, we don't have one,” he said quoted by Motorsport.com.

“So this is already from 2022, I think we just never thought we would run it that low. And then with the budget cap, you choose your priorities and we shifted that.

“We would have liked to have a lower wing, a lower-downforce wing, or at least a different shape, a more efficient shape.

“It's something I will look at but, on the other hand, there's only one more year left with these rules, and I don't know if it makes sense.

“But for me at least, it feels a bit like we throw away two race weekends like this because you definitely lose too much on the straights.”

The Dutchman, who qualified fifth, spoke about how the rear wing choice affected the team’s performance in Las Vegas. He also explained that although he was able to improve his speed in some parts of the track, his RB20 still lacked the pace to challenge the top competitors. 

“We know that with our wing naturally you lose top speed, especially with the DRS open. It's a bit of a handicap.

“We knew that and that's something that we have to deal with on a track like this track, like Monza. But also besides that, I always felt like, you know, the tyres were a bit of a struggle for us to get them in the right operating window.

“I do think that we did the best we could in qualifying with what we had, and then P5 is the result. We got a bit lucky because with Lewis not putting a lap in, otherwise it would have been P6. I think we really maximised what we could.”