Helmut Marko, Red Bull F1’s motorsports adviser, says the RB18 is about 5kg overweight, so weight reduction still gives him a few seconds of gain.
When the new generation F1 cars of 2022 first entered the course, the majority of F1 teams were overweight. This includes Red Bull Racing.
Red Bull Racing allowed Ferrari to take the lead in the opening round, but thanks to the weight reduction process of the RB18, it currently holds a 36-point lead. Max Verstappen is also leading the drivers’ championship for consecutive title titles.
However, the weight reduction process is not yet complete. According to Helmut Marko, the Ferrari F1-75 is now as light as possible, but the Red Bull RB18 hasn’t finished its diet yet. This also applies to Mercedes, which is striving to join the battle for higher ranks alongside Red Bull and Ferrari.
“This is a time-consuming process,” said Helmut Marko.
“The positive thing today is that you get a profit of a few seconds when you reach your goal. Are we 5kg short? Let’s say that’s not a very wrong assumption.”
“I think Ferrari is at the limit of weight, but Mercedes should be in line with our situation.”
Mercedes F1’s best result of the season was third, with George Russell leading the race for some time at the Spanish Grand Prix, showing their strongest show.
But apart from that, Mercedes had a big gap between Red Bull and Ferrari.
But Helmut Marko says he heard that Mercedes was unpredictable and the team was able to post strong lap times, which even Mercedes himself was surprised at.
Helmut Marko believes that if Mercedes finds some consistency, Mercedes could be another threat this season.
“When it comes to Mercedes, I’ve sometimes seen them able to post incredibly fast laps in both practice and racing, and they do it with both drivers,” continued Helmut Marko. ..
“It’s hard to understand where that performance comes from because they haven’t been able to do it consistently yet, and when talking to some well-informed people, they probably It turns out that even the team doesn’t know. “
“What we are worried about is that the potential seems to be there. If we can be consistent over the distance of the race, they will be able to play for victory.”
Red Bull Racing has been particularly strong on straights so far this season, and Helmut Marko can’t wait to unleash a long straight on the RB18 with a doubleheader in Baku and Canada, but beat Ferrari at both venues. He says he doesn’t always let him.
“Now we are optimistic about Baku and Montreal, where our top speed long straights are waiting for us,” Helmut Marko predicted.
“But I don’t think there’s a big margin. It’s important to find the right setup and good tire management right away.”
Category: Category: F1 / Red bull