The floor of the famous Red Bull car was suddenly revealed to all who were curious during the Monaco Grand Prix. Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes his rival already has spy photos.
In the video – from Viaplay’s broadcast – we see how one of the famous huge cranes along the track in Monaco lifted Sergio Pérez’s car after a crash in Q1 qualifying.
That way, we can see what the Red Bull car looks like underneath.
– Of course we don’t like it. Flooring is very important, but if you don’t have the other parts and all the underlying concepts, then it’s not easy, noted Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko told motorsport.com.
He added that Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, which was flown in the same way the previous Saturday, had gotten even more airborne.
– But I, people, are more interested in our car than the Mercedes floor.
Helmut Marko believes that unless the rivals know how to manage airflow, knowledge of floors will be of little use.
– It’s not just the floor. It has to work together with the fore wing and rear end. So it’s about all of these things combined, and it’s much more complex than just floors.
Viaplay expert Stein Pettersen answered much the same when VG asked him:
– Firstly, I think there is nothing that we saw there that the rivals have not managed to solve in one way or another. But it’s always interesting for the team. They watched each other, took pictures, and kept walking. So I might think that these pictures have been studied in rivals.
– Formula 1 teams are usually very careful about covering cars…
– Yes, and in that case they may not like it. But I think it’s more of a spinal reflex than any practical significance. They don’t like to flaunt their secrets.
– But isn’t floor the biggest difference between Red Bull and other teams since the new rules came in 2022?
– Flooring is important, but it’s all about airflow. What matters is how they regulate the movement of air under the car. I also think this is where the most important change is in the new Mercedes – rather than the “side pod” look, says Stein Pettersen.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said according to motorsport.com that he assumed his rivals already had spy shots of what their cars would look like from the inside.
– It’s impolite to see people’s skirts. Photo of the floor taken in and around the paddock. They’d come in the van, they’d work on the car and have the shutters open and so on, and the team would hire a spy photographer to photograph the car while they were in parts. This is common practice.
– So I won’t believe that this is the first time a picture of the floor has been taken. This may be the first time it has been suspended from a crane, but all teams always strive for that knowledge, said Horner according to motorsport.com.
Aston Martin’s Tom McCullough admits that they have studied the cars from Red Bull cars on tap:
– Yes, we saw the Red Bull floor in Monaco. Our photographer took some really good pictures. We have analyzed it, and I can say this much that we have extracted a lot of useful information, he said according to freelance journalist Matthew Thompson.
Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez are number one and two in WC so far. They have 144 and 105 points respectively. In 3rd place is Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin with 93 points.
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