Red Bull will be sending its engine to Honda in Japan to seek upgrades so that they can step up their challenge against Ferrari.
The 2022 season started with Red Bull and Ferrari contesting for the wins and looking like hot title favourites. Though, in Melbourne last weekend, Ferrari seemed to have a massive edge.
Both in pace and reliability, the Prancing horses are racking points. Thus, if this trend continues, it wouldn’t be long before Red Bull would be desperate to cut the deficit in the next 20 races.
In two out of three races, the runner-ups of 2021 had to retire their cars. It alone cost Max Verstappen around 36 points in the championship. Thus, the Milton-Keynes-based team would be resorting to their old partners to solve the issue.
Despite Honda’s exit, Red Bull is still using their engine in 2022 because of the engine freeze they lobbied for. The Japanese manufacturers also agreed to give outside assistance to Red Bull until the new engine regulations arrive.
Now, it seems that Red Bull is going to trigger that option. Michael Schmidt reports that Christian Horner’s would be sending its engine to Japan to get updates in pursuit of competing against Ferrari.
“They have sent the engine to Japan,” says Schmidt. “That’s where they’re going to see if it’s broken.”
Red Bull wants to take big steps in Imola
Red Bull’s next action plan is to wreck the Ferrari party in Italy. Imola is one of the home races of Ferrari, and the Maranello based team would love to win it there.
However, Red Bull’s expected updates on chassis, weight reduction and the engine could put a car that could outclass Ferrari. At least that’s what Helmut Marko claims to the media when asked about Red Bull’s action plan for Imola.
🗣️| Helmut Marko: “We will indeed be entitled to an evolution at Imola. If it works as well as the first ones and if we can reduce the weight, we can put a package on a footing to be on par with Ferrari.” #F1 [https://t.co/Ts6gjRLCSY]
— LC (@LappedCars) April 12, 2022
Also read: Red Bull chief admits he expected a much ‘calmer’ Max Verstappen following his 2021 World Title win
