Max Verstappen’s win at Paul Ricard last weekend was aided by his car’s impressive top speed, which helped him fend off a mid-race attack by Lewis Hamilton.
But while Red Bull’s low downforce rear wing configuration contributed to the advantage on the straight, Mercedes also suspected it was an engine change.
Honda decided to relocate both Red Bull and AlphaTauri for France to their second power unit of the year, with Mercedes having moved to Baku.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said of Red Bull’s shape in France: “You have made a big step forward with your engine, the introduction of the second engine. And your racing car is without a doubt good.”
But since F1’s homologation rules mean teams have to drive the same spec engine all season, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believed there was no difference in terms of performance, although new spec units can often be pushed hard .
“We must not move forward,” he responded to Wolff’s remarks. “I don’t know what he’s referring to.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B overtakes Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“I think it’s the same spec as the first unit. We used a much smaller rear wing, so the straight-ahead performance was strong.
“I think Honda is doing a great job, but we are not seeing any sudden significant increase in performance.”
Honda F1 Technical Director Toyoharu Tanabe felt that while Red Bull pushed for updates to improve the car, any engine gains were likely due to better energy management.
“On the team side, we’re introducing new parts so we can develop each race,” he said.
“The aggregate is the same [specification] all the time, but we’re learning better to use energy management etc for every race.
“We look at the characteristics of each track and I think that such daily developments are related to the current improvement.”
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