The Red Bulls team has developed the car at a fast pace – despite the budget ceiling in Formula 1. This is what Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Bonnotto believes is making a turnaround:
I hope Red Bull stops developing its car at some point. He says there is a budget cap.
Otherwise, I don’t understand how they can develop at this pace. They must be worried.
In 2022, a budget cap was introduced in Formula 1 and it limits all teams. The stables could lose $140 million in a single season (although there are some exceptions). Red Bull chose to have very strong car development during the start of the season and world champion Verstappen won the three races in which he finished. Among other things, he won the last two races in Imola and the USA, reducing the World Cup progression of Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver, who started the season better.
On the other hand, Ferrari chose a different strategy. The stable has had some updates with it for this weekend’s competition in the USA, but is planning to make a big change from the upcoming competition in Spain on May 22nd.
– I’ve always said you have to wait at least five races to see the real picture of how well the different teams are, Mattia Binotto tells Sky and Motorsporttotal.com, among others.
high frequency though Budget cap in Formula 1
F1 has now completed five races and Ferrari leads the constructors’ and drivers’ championship. But the trend is that Red Bull has a better top speed and better shape.
It is true that Red Bull has improved its car. They’ve made updates, and in the last two races, they’ve been a few tenths faster per lap than we were, he explains.
– There is no doubt that we should start modernizing the car to keep it at the same pace.
It also reveals that Ferrari will come up with a slew of updates in the upcoming races at the weekends. At the same time, it’s clear that the stable should manage its resources during the next 18 sub-competitions.
It is not surprising that we have a big deal with us in Spain and that will be important for us. Every time we have news with us, I hope the new package works so we can bite off some of the distance that Red Bull has gained, he says.
– We don’t have enough money to update the car for each race. Not because we can’t, but because of the budget cap. Therefore, we should try to perform the update at the time we think is correct.
Asphalt in Miami – disaster
After this weekend’s competition in Miami, the track received heavy criticism from many drivers. Above all, they believe that asphalt has been the subject of criticism.
– It’s a great track, but the asphalt doesn’t meet the Formula 1 level, Lando Norris points out.
He says the asphalt tore up over the weekend and “literally turned dirt”.
– Everyone expected a race with really good races, but with this asphalt this was not possible: every time you go a little far, you instantly lose two seconds.
Max Verstappen criticizes Sector Two, which he considers too slow for today’s long and heavy F1 cars, while Esteban Ocon, Albin blames the collision between Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel on the asphalt.
– Before we came here, we were told that those stones from Georgia would be great, the best asphalt in the world. But it was a disaster, it wasn’t possible to drive again, says the alpine driver who finished in eight after a race that was tactically well executed.
One of the reasons Mick touched Sebastian’s car was that it was impossible to re-driving from the inside. You lose half a second when you leave the perfect track. It does not work. We should have been driving on the type of asphalt there is in Jeddah, it’s perfect.
short news
It was rumored that Williams could fire Nicholas Latifi already during this year’s season. It was rejected by stable director Just Capito:
– Latifi needs more time to get used to the new car, but he has our full support. German says to the sky.
Changing drivers during the season is out of the question. There is no need to do this as long as the cooperation with the driver is working. It’s always difficult to integrate a driver during the season, even if Oscar Piastre is an amazing talent and gets a place in Formula 1. I’m sure he will drive F1 next year.
Am I Williams?
Max Verstappen claimed his 23rd Grand Prix victory in the USA. There are up to Nelson Piquet and Nico Rosberg. He is 12th in the list of all GP winners in F1.
Mercedes admits that fifth and sixth places were the best the team could achieve in Miami.
– The car looked promising last Friday, with lots and less fuel. That’s why it’s an illusion that we haven’t shortened the distance to the top, says Andrew Shovlin.
We are not kidding ourselves and we think we can challenge Red Bull and Ferrari in the coming weeks. We need to make sure the gap is closed at every turn.
Congratulations Joel!
Swede little Ferrari driver Dino Beganovic had a really good weekend in Imola and is leading his championship. In England, Joel Granfors also showed good form when he came home to the first GB3 victory of his career at a race at Silverstone and took the lead in the championship.
What a weekend, Joel Granforce comments.
– Fastest in training, fastest in qualifying, and first victory on land. I can’t wish for much more than that. We had a very good pace this weekend. We took first place by more than three-tenths and got the car working perfectly. A big thank you to the team and everyone who helped me here!
The championship runs three races each weekend and has completed two of the eight races on weekends.