How can RB lose a race?

[MUFC]

Obvious answer is if Max crashes out or they start from the pits.

Any other way you can think of?

[Panflute]

2022 showed how.

In Austria, according to Max they had put an experimental upgrade on the car that turned out to be a considerable downgrade, allowing Ferrari to outpace them in the Grand Prix proper (well, until Sainz's car blew up). This probably was exarcerbated by Austria being a sprint weekend, so they did not have a lot of time to try and limit the damage with a killer set-up. When they took the upgrades off the next race, everything was fine again.

In Singapore, we had the fuel load oopsie in qualifying, meaning Max had to start P8 on a street circuit. He also had the weakest Grand Prix I've seen him do in like 3 years.

In Brazil, Mercedes had a fluke killer weekend while Red Bull were surprisingly weak. I don't know whether it was down to a wrong set-up or just the uniqueness of the track, but I don't think Mercedes even really understood why they won there. So there's a chance something like that might happen.

In the end it will come down to whether Pérez will be able to consistently get podiums again, meaning he'd be in position to take the win if Max has a moment. I just don't see Max winning everything now. Apart from the issues listed above, there's always a chance Max'll get damage (Baku 2023), drive into someone else's debris (Silverstone 2022) or has bad luck with a safety car (also Baku 2023). The question is, when that happens, will Pérez be in pole position to take the win or will he be on yet another 'recovery drive'.

[MUFC]

Looking at the remaining circuits Singapore and Qatar are difficult to overtake on. But it does rain now and then in Singapore. If Max could start round 6th or lower there on the grid with a full race where full wets are needed. This could be a situation where neither of the RB drivers win the race.

I think in 2022 in Brazil they struggled with altitude which used to be one of their biggest strengths.