Marko: We can build on a very successful 2022 car

Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor, is adamant penalties from the team’s Formula 1 cost cap breach won’t compromise their 2023 season, as they can build on their successful RB18 from 2022.

Red Bull enjoyed one of their most dominant F1 seasons in 2022, clinching both Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships with races to spare, Max Verstappen winning the former in Japan, the team securing the latter in Austin.

Their impressive 2022 F1 car, the RB18, voted 2022 F1 car of the year by our readers and editorial team, played a major role in the success of the team’s 2022 campaign, dominant in the hands of Verstappen who took a record 15 wins with it .

However, the Milton Keynes squad enter 2023 somehow handicapped as they have to deal with a penalty for breaching the F1 cost cap in 2021, meaning their wind tunnel time is reduced by 10%, which translates into 63% of the total 400 hours of wind tunnel time allowed compared to 75% for Ferrari, runner up on the Constructors’ Standings.

Red Bull just have to be efficient

dr Marko, however, is confident that Red Bull can work around this issue in 2023, given the team is starting from a strong foundation, the RB18, and would just have to be smart in how they work.

“We are of course sitting with this reduction of hours in the wind tunnel,” he told Servus TV. “That means we have to work very efficiently as a team. All the things we try out have to hit the mark immediately.

“But fortunately, the technical changes for next year are not that big. It means we have a good basic package,” he pointed out.

“The team also stays together and Max is still getting slightly better,” Marko added. “As a result, we can go into the new season cautiously optimistic.

“We have a tradition at Red Bull that we don’t really finish the car until the very last moment. But the concept of the car is already there. We can indeed build on a very successful 2022 car,” the 79-year-old from Graz, Austria maintained.

RB18

From blank canvas to #F1 World Champions

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) December 28, 2022