The Monaco Grand Prix last weekend not only produced an exhilarating qualifying and main race but also produced some spectacular unseen images of the F1 cars. Rival teams got the perfect opportunity to see the floors of both the Mercedes and Red Bull cars because of their trips to the sky.
This took place after the Monaco GP cranes lifted the cars of both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez following their respective crashes during qualifying. Since the cars were lifted up so high, it provided quite a visual for both the fans and the rival teams.
Speaking of the same, Mercedes technical boss James Allison said, “It certainly always attracts a lot of interest. There is a lot of scurrying around with team cameramen“. Allison states that the teams ask their cameramen to be at strategic points on the track, where they are likely to get the best visuals.
Allison explains how Red Bull’s pictures will help the Mercedes team
In the same video, James Allison also explained how Mercedes will now attempt to exploit the visual of Red Bull‘s exposed floor to improve their own car. “We got a nice clutch of Red Bull imagery and that is always a good thing for our aerodynamicists to see if we can pick out details that will be of interest to us in our own ongoing test program“, explained Allison.
Along similar lines, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton also joked that he will take a good look at the images of the Red Bull floor. While giving a post-race interview to F1 TV presenter Rosanna Tennant, the Briton said that he had saved his images on his phone, so that he could later zoom in and have a good look.
Red Bull unconcerned about their leaked secret
Even though all rival teams got to have a good look at the floor of the Red Bull car, team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko are not concerned. In fact, they took this as an opportunity to aim a dig at their competitors.
While speaking to Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz (as quoted by gpfans.com), Marko said that Red Bull’s floor makes their rivals look ‘prehistoric‘. In another conversation with motorsport-total.com, the Austrian explained that their floor will not be easy to replicate as while it is important, the rival teams also need to have a good idea about the other parts.
Similarly to Marko, Horner also joked about their secret being leaked. As quoted by gpfans.com, he hilariously said, “It is very impolite to peek under people’s skirts”. Considering that Red Bull has a staggering 129 points advantage at the top of the Constructors’ standings from second-placed Aston Martin, they are likely to be unfazed by this moment.
