It has been reported by an unnamed Mercedes source that Red Bull are entering the forthcoming season with the ability to run the RB19 “ten millimetres lower than everybody else”, with the Germans being unable to lower their car to the same height as the Austrians as their “underbody would break”.
It appears that engineering genius Adrian Newey has designed yet another masterpiece, with the RB19 having looked formidable during pre-season testing last week at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Red Bull certainly appeared to have the best all-round package, with Max Verstappen in particular having looked incredibly comfortable from the get-go in testing.
Verstappen and Red Bull look so good in fact, that Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS) have reported that they’ll likely be “four tenths” ahead of Ferrari per lap and “six tenths” faster than Mercedes, suggesting that it could be a lonely cruise to victory for the reigning World Champion.
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‘Adjusted for factors such as fuel, engine mode and track temperature,’ AMuS claims, ‘the Red Bull with the World Champion in the cockpit is estimated to be two to four tenths faster than Ferrari and six tenths than the Mercedes.’
One of their reasons for their phenomenal pace is due to the car being able to run so low, despite the FIA having introduced a new technical regulation for 2023.
In a bid to eradicate porposing, all the teams have had to raise their car by 15mm, in accordance with the new technical regulation.
Red Bull were one side last year who rarely experienced any porpoising, with Newey perhaps having designed something that no other team has identified yet.
“They are ten millimetres lower than everyone else. If we drove that low, the underbody would break,” an unnamed Mercedes source told AMuS.
Mercedes will be massively concerned by Red Bull’s strong pace, especially given that they don’t look likely to be in podium contention for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
The W14 looked like a real handle in the corners and was again below Red Bull’s straight-line speed, something Lewis Hamilton is concerned about.
Whilst porpoising isn’t an issue for Mercedes, Hamilton is aware that the team’s 2023 car is “not perfect”, with the belief being amongst the Brackley-based team that they can’t “match” their Austrian rivals or Ferrari.
“That was an issue last year and a bit this year too,” said Hamilton.
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“The bouncing is mostly gone, sometimes it’s still there, but most of the time it’s not there, which makes things a whole lot better. But we do have some pace to pick up in a straight line.
“We have some things we need to work on, it’s still not perfect and we’re still not able to match the Red Bulls, or the Ferraris, currently.
“Who knows where we’ll be next week, we’ll just try to stay positive.”