Red Bull Domination Will Fade Away as Wind Tunnel Penalty Kicks In, Says Helmut Marko

Red Bull got slapped with a wind tunnel penalty after the team was found guilty of breaching the 2021 cost cap of $145 Million in the previous season.

The Milton-Keynes-based team was given a 10% reduction in the allotted time they can spend testing their car in the wind tunnel, combined with a $7 Million fine.

After the season opener in Bahrain, it seems like the wind tunnel penalty has had a limited impact on the RB19. But going forward, the team could face problems believes the Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.

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Rivals will easily be able to catch up with Red Bull

Currently, the Milton-Keynes-based team has a massive advantage. In the first race of the 2023 season, Max Verstappen stormed to the lead position right at the lights out and comfortably crossed the chequered flag first to claim his first victory of the season.

Meanwhile, Ferrari lacked pace and suffered reliability issues and Mercedes too found itself struggling in the mid-field. The only team to have made a significant upgrade came out to be Aston Martin.

But as the season progresses, the teams will need to bring upgrades to their cars and this is where Red Bull fears that they are at disadvantage.

Speaking to Formel1.de, Marko said with the penalty looming over RB19’s upgrades, the team had to be efficient with how they utilised the wind tunnel during winter break.

Regardless, as the season proceeds their wind tunnel time will run out while others will still have that advantage. Therefore, there is a chance that the rivals would be able to easily close the gap.

 Marko slams George Russell’s comments about Red Bull

After the frustrating result of the first race of the season, Mercedes’ George Russell told the media that he is sure that Red Bull will win every race this season and already has the championship title in the bag.

Formel1.de asked Marko about this statement, and the Austrian slammed this claim and said that this is just out of frustration.

He explained that the Bahrain circuit played in Red Bull’s favour and they put in a good performance. But as for the rest of the season, it is not that easy.

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