Upgrade race between Red Bull and Ferrari begins: 'Have to be economical'

28 February 2023 at 18:57

Last update 28 February 2023 at 19:10

GPblog.com

Ferrari kicked off the 2022 Formula 1 season stronger than Red Bull Racing, but lost more and more ground on the rival team during the year. According to Frederic Vasseur, this was partly due to the update strategy, which he plans to approach differently this year.

That Ferrari started the season so strongly, according to Vasseur, had partly to do with Red Bull Racing and Mercedes shifting their focus late in 2021 to 2022. "They were too heavy at the beginning of the season, something that is quite easy to change and which directly affects the performance of the car," he is quoted by Motorsport-Magazin.com.

Towards the end of the season, Ferrari decided to focus on 2023 and scrap further updates. That will not happen this year, Mattia Binotto's successor assures. "We have good updates coming and we won't stop before the end of the season," it sounds almost cautionary.

The first updates would already be in the starting blocks. "Not before next week, that would be too short notice. But we have updates planned for Jeddah and Melbourne, if it works out," Vasseur continues. Clear language from the Italian team, which does not want to be behind the times this year.

Red Bull takes no risks

Red Bull is obviously not sitting still either, but there the first major update package might take a little longer. That has everything to do with the wind tunnel penalty imposed on the team by the FIA, according to Helmut Marko. "We have to be economical, both with the budget cap and the wind tunnel times. There is no room for experiments or risks." Red Bull's first major upgrade is expected in Baku.