Newey: We will have to postpone the introduction of some new products

For the Imola race, Ferrari, who confidently led the Constructors’ Championship, was considered the favorite, but the Red Bull Racing cars at Scuderia’s home track were faster, including on the straights. But Adrian Newey, head of the team’s technical department from Milton Keynes, thinks the strengths of the two teams are about equal.

Adrian Newey: “In reality we are very close in terms of speed. But this weekend we set up the cars so that we had a slight advantage in the straight line and maybe were faster in some corners. At the same time, the results of passing circles were quite similar.

Yes, we got an excellent result, but the difference in speed is very small and the balance of power is very unstable. In Imola our car was indeed faster, but in Melbourne we were behind the Ferrari.

I think the picture this season will be similar to last year when we fought with Mercedes. Some tracks will be better for one car, others for another. After four races of the season it is very difficult to make predictions.

Of course, the modernization of vehicles will be a very important factor this season, but everything is complicated by the fact that we are working with a limited budget. And that means that we have to take these limitations into account when making technical innovations. We will probably have to postpone the implementation of some solutions to a later date in order to immediately present a larger set of updates.

We can no longer afford to bring new items almost every race like we used to.”

The teams have already started preparations for the fifth leg of the season, the Miami Grand Prix, which is on the championship calendar for the first time. Newey spoke about some of the complexities of this process facing the team’s technical specialists: “Of course we have already started the initial preparation and are working on the simulator. But until now we have to start from our own ideas about this track and solving such problems is not easy, because we do not have accurate information about the curbs, about the degree of abrasiveness of the asphalt pavement.

If we determine these parameters incorrectly, it will significantly affect our calculations. For example, we thought we were correctly imagining the nature of the changes the Melbourne track has undergone, but it turned out we were wrong. In general, you should be more careful with predictions for the upcoming race.