Red Bull’s chances of competing on equal terms with Ferrari at this start of the season were compromised by the fact that the RB18 was well over the weight limit and according to rumors circulating in the paddock it was rumored that the cars designed by Adrian Newey were even 10 kg over the minimum weight.
This factor not only affected the lap time by around 3 tenths of a second, but also had an impact on tire degradation.
The team worked hard to put the RB18 on a diet, bringing some lighter components to the track, and the results obtained last weekend at Imola seem to have proved the Red Bull technicians right.
On the track named after Enzo and Dino Ferrari, Max Verstappen experienced a perfect weekend, taking pole on Friday, victory on Saturday in the Sprint Qualifying and victory on Sunday. In addition, Red Bull managed to close with a brace thanks to the second place obtained by Sergio Perez.
Helmut Marko underlined at the end of the race how much the modifications brought to Imola by the team contributed to this excellent result, but he also highlighted how the weight loss work of the RB18 is not yet completed.
“The updates we brought to the track worked well. The car has lost weight, but we still have a lot of work to do from this point of view because we are still beyond the minimum weight required by the FIA. It is a normal path. Even when you follow a Weight Watchers diet you don’t lose all your excess weight in one go. “
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Erik Junius
The winner of the GP of Emilia Romagna, Max Verstappen, after the success obtained in Imola did not want to indicate the great step forward made by Red Bull only in the weight loss, but underlined how much the car that raced in Italy was better compared to that seen at the beginning of the year.
“We brought some updates, but I don’t know how much these have contributed given the variable weather conditions we faced. It is very difficult to judge but we have certainly been more competitive than Australia and I am satisfied with how the weekend went. I believe that only in time will we discover how well the updates are working ”.
Marko then emphasized the two goals won by Red Bull at Imola. For the Austrian consultant, this result was a great relief.
“This weekend has been extremely important for the morale of our team. We have shown that we have a competitive package ”.
“We were faster than Ferrari, we managed to get the tires to work in the right operating window and we also found an excellent general balance. We had a significantly better weekend than in Melbourne, while Ferrari had basically the same problems as we had in Australia ”.
#Marko #weight #loss #RB18