The battle for the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship is in full swing after five of 23 planned races. In the constructors it is 157:151 for Ferrari, and in the drivers’ standings Max Verstappen recently had the slightly faster overall package with the RB18. But Charles Leclerc is still on more points with 104:84.
After the first big Red Bull update in Imola, with which the RB18 is still undefeated, Ferrari will follow suit for the first time in Barcelona.
“In the last two races, Red Bull has gained about two tenths,” Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is quoted as saying in the Italian media: “In order to keep up, we also have to bring updates.”
Binotto believes that Red Bull could have used up to 75 percent of the available development budget: “There is a budget limit. At some point Red Bull will have to stop further development. In the next few races it will be our turn to get new parts bring.”
Binotto: Red Bull spent more than Ferrari
“I would estimate that they have spent significantly more money than we have so far. But that’s not going to go on forever. We don’t have enough money to bring something new to every Grand Prix. And it’s not about our capacity, it’s around the budget limit. We bring updates when we think the time is right,” says Binotto.
But it’s no different with Red Bull that you think about the right time: “We plan our updates in such a way that we always lose weight with every update, because unfortunately we still haven’t reached the minimum weight. And we will not quite reach with the next update,” says motorsport consultant Helmut Marko.
Red Bull has not yet reached minimum weight
Up to and including Australia, the Red Bull was about ten kilograms overweight. The first diet was effective from Imola onwards. According to reports, the overweight should have amounted to four kilograms afterwards. Marko disagrees: “That’s your assumption.” In fact, the RB18 seems to be carrying a few more kilograms.
Getting rid of them is a top priority for Red Bull. That costs money. But that Red Bull has already put significantly more of its chips on the table than Ferrari, “I don’t think so,” says Marko to “Motorsport-Total.com”: “It’s true that the increased logistics costs are a problem. But that’s true not only us, but also Ferrari and all other teams.”
The fact that Red Bull has already used 75 percent of its development budget is “nonsense”, Marko clarifies and adds: “I don’t think that we are in a significantly different position than Ferrari in this respect. Especially since I wonder how they affect that Carlos Sainz has crashed the car several times. That can’t be cheap.”
Budget ceiling for 2022 currently at 147.2 million
The budget limit for 2022 (which includes chassis only, but not powertrain) is officially set at US$145 million plus twice US$1.2 million for each Grand Prix that exceeds 21 race weekends. However, due to inflation and increased transport costs, a relaxation of the budget limit is currently being discussed.
Because in the current situation, Haas team boss Günther Steiner calculated this for our colleagues from “Motorsport.com” in Italy, after deducting all other costs, a top racing team in Formula 1 is left with only around ten million dollars that you actually can invest in updates. Those who are frugal can spend more.
But regardless of what the accountants say: “Barcelona will be an important package for us,” says Binotto. “I hope that the innovations we bring will be a good push to bring us back to Red Bull’s level.” Because what you can’t afford in 2022: an expensive update that doesn’t bring any improvement on the track.