The teams were given an extra 43 kilograms to play with this season due to brand new technical regulations introduced by the FIA.
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Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will have a faster, lighter RB18 for the fourth round of the championship, the Emilia Romagna GP, as per Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko. The teams were given an extra 43 kilograms to play with this season due to brand new technical regulations, with Formula 1 increasing the minimum weight of the cars. However, none of the teams, with the exception of Alfa Romeo, were able to achieve this, with some being reported to be double digits overweight, including Red Bull. Despite its weight issues, the RB18 is one of the top two cars on the grid this year.
Verstappen challenged Charles Leclerc for the race win in Bahrain, but the Dutchman’s race was eventually ruined by a fuel pressure problem, whereas Verstappen won the battle in Saudi Arabia. The reigning World Champion won by a fraction of a second over Ferrari’s driver. Come Imola, Marko has promised his drivers a lighter, and possibly faster, car.
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“The Ferrari is a car that is always fast, in all conditions [regardless of] temperature or tyres,” the Red Bull motorsport advisor told Austria’s Servus TV. “Our car is definitely more difficult to tune, but we will lose some weight in Imola. That should give us a significant time advantage, time gain in other words.”
“I think we are in a good position, but we have an almost equal opponent in Ferrari. Leclerc is driving absolutely flawless this season, so it will be an exciting year.”
With 45 points, Leclerc leads the Drivers’ Championship, while Verstappen is third with 25, separated by the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Marko believes that Ferrari’s current advantage is largely due to its engine.
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“Ferrari are ahead,” he said. “Honda, or rather Red Bull Powertrains, is in second place. And Mercedes, unusually, only in third. But there is the opportunity for them to work on that until September 1, so in this phase we have to get as many points as possible.”
Marko pointed to the area of electrical energy as the source of Ferrari’s increased speed. Honda, we hope, will follow suit. After Honda withdrew from F1, Red Bull’s power units, rebranded Honda engines, are being used for the first time this season. Honda, on the other hand, continues to back Red Bull’s new engine division. At the next race, the Australian Grand Prix, Marko expects another close battle with Ferrari.
