Barretto: "Red Bull faster than Mercedes on the straight"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
With the new F1 season starting, the question on everyone's mind is can Max Verstappen challenge Lewis Hamilton for the title this year? The answer to that question is still a long way off, as the real power ratio's will only be revealed on Saturday. Still, Red Bull Racing seems to be in with a chance this year. Nevertheless Hamilton remains the man to beat.
This was also noticed by Lawrence Barretto. In an article on F1.com he writes: "Lewis is the favourite to win the world title this year. He is driving better than ever. Yet the car he drove during testing made him feel a little insecure. Although he remained confident that his team would find a way to solve the problems this was not the basis he was used to in recent years."
Honda engine
According to Barretto, Red Bull Racing has therefore made up a lot of ground. "Our data team did a telemetry comparison between Hamilton and Verstappen. It showed that Hamilton usually went through a corner with the same or less speed, but could then get on the gas faster than his Dutch colleague."
The biggest catch-up, however, appears to be the engine, according to Barretto. "Intriguingly, Verstappen was able to make up time on the straights compared to Mercedes. This is due to the significantly improved Honda engine, which delivers a lot more power than its predecessor."