'Red Bull's overweight costs them 0.3 to 0.4 seconds per lap'

Red Bull Racing's car is still a little too heavy. The team often gets beaten by Ferrari in qualifying, but Red Bull is looking for upgrades that can improve both its race pace and its qualifying pace.

Max Verstappen himself indicated that the RB18 is still not great in qualifying. According to the Dutchman his car is still a bit too heavy. The Race reports that the Red Bull was estimated to be fifteen kilograms too heavy before the season started, but the team would have reduced this to about 7.5 kilograms before the Miami Grand Prix in May.

Subsequent upgrades have reportedly increased the weight to around ten kilograms due to more robust and complex components. Ferrari are said to be closer to the minimum weight of 798 kilograms. The Italians have often shown that they have a faster car during qualifying, but the Red Bull benefits especially during the race.

Red Bull loses time due to overweight

In the article, journalist Edd Straw writes that the extra ten kilograms on the RB18 costs around 0.3 to 0.4 seconds per lap, depending on the circuit. Still, the improved balance and higher aerodynamic performance may be worth the extra weight. Red Bull does not want to shift their focus to the qualifying pace more than the race pace. The aim is to find performance improvements that help in both scenarios. This includes saving weight. The extra weight is less noticeable during the race, but still has an effect there.

"We’re only able to influence our own performance, not what Ferrari does. If we’ve managed to put a little bit more performance on our car, then it will serve us well for qualifying as well as the race. You wouldn’t do one versus the other, you look to do both – otherwise it’s a bit of a false game potentially", says chief engineer Paul Monaghan.