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F1’s Rockstar Predicts Max Verstappen & Co.’s Dominant Advantage to Vanish With F1’s Masterful Rules

Published 04/01/2023, 1:00 PM EDT

Rules are like spider webs through which the big flies pass, but the little ones get caught. The same was the case in Formula 1 in 2022, where Red Bull and the other two top teams pulled an advantage over the midfield and backmarkers. However, one of the small teams, Aston Martin, has now caught up to the big names and F1’s Las Vegas rockstar believes the remaining teams would do too. Owning the comeback of the lightweights, the new masterful F1 rules.

They introduced new rules to Formula 1 for 2022, which included the cost cap and the aerodynamic testing rules. According to the aerodynamic testing rules, the higher the team finishes in the constructor’s championships, the less the wind tunnel and CFD time allotted to them. Also, the ground effect was introduced back into the cars with simplified wings to reduce the dirty air and provide for closer racing. However, Max Verstappen and Co. breached the cost cap last year and, as a result, 10% of their aerodynamic testing time was taken away.

While the rules seem to be working at closing up the field, Red Bull still has a massive advantage over the rest of the closely bunched-up field. Despite having the least aerodynamic testing time available, Red Bull has somehow managed to eke out a greater gap to the teams behind compared to last year. Nevertheless, Guenther Steiner believes that Red Bull’s advantage will perish. He suggested everyone will eventually catch up after decoding Red Bull’s performance formula and will pass them as Red Bull will struggle from the penalty imposed on them the previous year.

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According to Motorsport-total.com, Guenther Steiner said, “The rules work! Red Bull has an advantage, but I don’t think it will stop the next 20 races.” Further adding, “Everyone will catch up, and hopefully, we will find out how Red Bull got this advantage. Then we can copy it or develop something similar. Everyone will work hard and never forget that Red Bull still has the penalty from the previous year.”

There are already signs of teams catching up to the Red Bulls with Mercedes qualifying within three-tenths of Max Verstappen at the Australian GP. Rivals will eventually catch up with Red Bull, if not this season, then maybe the next season. But what does Red Bull think about it being caught?

Does Christian Horner believe in rivals catching up with them?

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The regulations are still relatively young and a lot of teams are still not 100% sure about their concept. But eventually, all the teams will find their feet and start to make gains on the Red Bulls. Christian Horner believes that a lot of teams will converge on the one fastest idea during the season and close the gap to his team. He also suggested how Red Bull needs to take advantage of its pace while its rivals are still figuring things out.

According to motorsport.com, Christian Horner said, “The regulations are still relatively young. It’s only the second year of these new regulations. So I’m expecting to see an awful lot of convergence during the course of the year, and the grid is going to tighten up.” Further adding, “So we need to make hay while the sun shines at the moment while we’ve got a competitive car, and just keep pushing through the season.”

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Watch this story: From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen: How F1 Drivers train

Do you think rival teams will catch up with Red Bull during this season?

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Written by:

Pranay Bhagi is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. Having completed his graduation, he has set foot into Sports Journalism with absolute enthusiasm. Being an ardent fan of F1, he has been following the pinnacle of motorsport for over a decade now.

Edited by:

Akash Pandhare

F1’s Rockstar Predicts Max Verstappen & Co.’s Dominant Advantage to Vanish With F1’s Masterful Rules

Does Christian Horner believe in rivals catching up with them?

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