Red Bull Racing says it will rethink the ultra-lightweight DRS at the Monaco Grand Prix, which forced Max Verstappen to compromise on performance at the F1 Spanish Grand Prix.
Active F1 World Champion Max Verstappen led the 2022 drivers’ championship by overcoming the big gap in the early days when Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had at one point up to 46 points.
“After the second retirement, you said our championship was over,” Red Bull F1 Motorsports Advisor Helmut Marko told reporters in Barcelona.
“But I was saying there were still a lot of races at the time and I would fight back.”
Red Bull Racing’s 1-2 finish mass points in Spain were, of course, helped by pole sitter Charles Leclerc’s engine-related retirement and another difficult race by Carlos Sainz.
It was a disappointment for Scuderia Ferrari, but after introducing a significant upgrade to the F1 Spanish Grand Prix, both Charles Leclerc and team representative Mattia Binotto are looking to the positive side.
“Performing like a truck like Barcelona shows that we didn’t have a good car early in the season,” said Mattia Binotto.
“We had a problem today, as Max Verstappen had at the beginning of the season. It’s possible, but the championship is really just beginning.”
Red Bull Racing also had a problem on Sunday. Throughout the weekend, Max Verstappen’s DRS malfunction was revealed to be due to a new lightweight DRS mechanism that wasn’t on Sergio Perez’s car.
“At such a development speed, it is not possible to make everything in two cars at first,” Helmut Marko insisted.
“When it’s heavy, we have to keep the parts light and we’ve reached the limit. Then the parts will bend or lose rigidity.”
“It’s a tightrope walk,” Helmut Marko admitted, adding that Red Bull Racing needs to think “it’s going to be safer” at the next Monaco Grand Prix.
“2 kg is more or less no different in Monte Carlo,” Helmut Marko said.
Ferrari was also on the lookout for reports that Red Bull’s fuel was illegally low before the race in Barcelona, but Mattia Binotto told the media that “you can only trust the FIA.”
The Mercedes F1 continued to fight back on Sunday, with George Russell on the podium and Toto Wolff praising Lewis Hamilton as the fastest car on the truck.
“Red Bull was in its own league,” Toto Wolg said.
“But I think we’re there with Ferrari. It’s the next level.”
“Being able to control bouncing allows us to run lower and generate more aero. Now the car can accept it and the pace was great.”
Category: Category: F1 / Red bull / F1 Monaco GP