Red Bull on an expensive diet: Signs of weight loss in Australia

Over the weekend at the Melbourne Grand Prix, it became clear once again that Red Bull Racing still had a lot to gain against Ferrari. During qualifying, Max Verstappen looked close to Charles Leclerc, but the Dutchman lost three tenths to the Ferrari driver in the last two corners. The RB18 also didn’t set up well in the race, causing the front tires to wear out quickly and Verstappen losing a lot of time. There will be upgrades at Imola, but in Australia Red Bull already had a different concept.

Helmut Marko has already indicated that Red Bull will come with updates during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Red Bull is currently one of the heaviest cars, weighing about ten kilograms over the minimum weight. Losing these kilograms saves time by about three tenths. There’s also a nice cost involved, which cuts sharply during times of budget. “Saving weight per kilogram costs between 200,000 and 250,000 euros”, Italian branch Motorsport.com calculated. Expensive diet.

The first signs of weight loss in Australia

At Albert Park, the Austrian racing stable has already introduced some new concepts that should help save weight. For example, Red Bull took care of the aerodynamic front wing. According to the official interpretation of the FIA, it has also been made lighter by adjusting the overall size and weight Motorsport.com† Red Bull has mainly made changes in end panels† Not only the shape of the fin, but also its design and location (diving plane, editor). The concept presented by Red Bull was not new, as it can also be found in Alfa Romeo and Alpine cars.

With other parts of the car, Red Bull is going one step further to lose as much weight as possible. In Saudi Arabia, parts were already installed on the car that weren’t finished, so the team did it again in Melbourne. Every gram counts. Since the paint is also proportional to the weight, part of the side was laid without paint. This has also been seen on some parts of the front wing and around the mounting points of the rear wing.” Motorsport.com†