Red Bull to Take Development in an Interesting Direction

Adrian Newey says Red Bull have decided to use Mercedes innovative wheel rims on the RB15 for the 2019 season. The rims caused plenty of debate over their legality. The FIA passed the designs, and it looks likely that we’ll see more of them in the upcoming season.

Mercedes had problems with their rear tyres but came up with a way to solve the problem this summer. To help with cooling, they placed holes in the rims to increase airflow and control the temperature.

According to the Italian version of Motorsport.com, Red Bull are looking to copy this design. They were passed by the technical committee of the FIA after being deemed to have minimal effect on the aerodynamics.

Mercedes decided not to use the new rims in the final three Grands Prix of the season in fear of a Ferrari protest. However, Toto Wolff has already confirmed the rims will be used on the next Mercedes Formula 1 car.

Other such upgrades include a promised ‘party mode’ for the Austrian outfit. Red Bull has talked up Honda since inking a two-year deal in the middle of 2018, declaring it had surpassed Renault before the end of the season.

The team’s motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko believes planned gains for 2019 should put Red Bull in the “region” of F1’s current benchmarks Mercedes and Ferrari, and have triggered “a real euphoria” and “a sense of optimism” within the team.

“The Honda engine is already slightly above the Renault engine. If you combine our GPS data with the data provided by Honda, we’ll be in the Mercedes and Ferrari region.

“Of course they’re not sleeping either. But they are already at such a high level that they can no longer make such jumps.

“Even if we should be 10 or 15 kW behind, that was no different in our Renault era with the eight-cylinder engine. We can make up for that.”