It’s a fact now and not hot news that Red Bull is dominating the F1 grid at present. They won the driver’s and constructor’s titles last year. Needless to say that their car, RB19 is the fastest on the grid. Unlike other teams, Red Bull had a lot of success with their car under the new cost cap regulations. On the other hand, Red Bull’s rival, Mercedes, has been struggling with its car and its concept. They have been using the zero-side pod concept also in the early part of the current season.
However, the good news for Mercedes fans is that they have added side pods to the car. Lewis Hamilton even mentioned that the car feels good after the upgrades, and the Mercedes team needs to build on the improvements. Meanwhile, Red Bull has no such worries as their car is better than the rest. They have won all the six races in the current season so far. But their boss Christian Horner feels there is no shortcut to success. As a result, the Austrian team is willing to make every slight adjustment possible to ensure success for their drivers.
Red Bull Planning On A New Approach For The Spanish Grand Prix
For instance, Monaco was a street circuit, but the next Grand Prix race in Barcelona is a much more ideal track for drivers and teams to test modifications to their respective cars. As a result, Mercedes and Ferrari are looking forward to testing their new upgrades in Barcelona. However, the German team has already tried their revamped car in Monaco, but they want to gather more data in Barcelona. On the other hand, Red Bull is trying to take a different approach with special upgrades to RB19 in Barcelona as mentioned by the team’s advisor, Helmut Marko.
Reportedly, Adrian Newey, Chief Technology Officer of Red Bull, was conspicuously taking notes in his traditional notepad of the Mercedes W14 car in Monaco. Hence, people are wondering if Red Bull’s boss is thinking about copying some stuff from the rival’s car. But it makes no sense for the Milton Keynes team to copy from any team, let alone Mercedes, who have struggled a lot these last two years. Moreover, when asking about the same, Adrian Newey mentioned, “I’ve been using this notepad for almost ten years. I like working with pen, pencil, and eraser.” He said that he is not really used to working in Computer-Aided Design systems as “It is kind of a foreign language for me.” Adrian also revealed that his notepad is filled with drawings and scribbles but mostly “junk.”
Mercedes Gets A New Look After New Upgrades
As far as what Newey said, it does not sound like Red Bull has any intention of copying their rival’s new side pods design. But Mercedes looks very different with their new upgrades – side pods (left and right) and the front suspension. However, it will take time for Mercedes to catch up with Red Bull’s pace. But the Spanish Grand Prix can answer a lot of questions about where the teams like Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Ferrari, along with Red Bull, stand after their new upgrades to their respective cars.
