Max Verstappen is not bothered by the radical rework of Mercedes’ W13, insisting Red Bull must only focus on their own car ahead of the new season. The Silver Arrows took to Bahrain for the final Formula One pre-season test having made aggressive upgrades to their 2022 challenger, with it almost completely different to the chassis Mercedes ran in shakedown testing in Barcelona at the end of February.
The W13 now has very small sidepods and fins on the side. The innovations are designed to help the airflow of the car and ultimately increase its speed, and make it look very different to the cars of their rivals.
The innovative design has caused a stir in the paddock but reigning world champion Verstappen insists he is not distracted by Mercedes’ development work.
Earlier in the day, the Dutchman’s team principal Christian Horner was claimed by Auto Motor und Sport to have said the car is “a step too far” and “illegal” although Red Bull issued a statement in response insisting that the quotes were “incorrect”.
The Milton Keynes-based team then backtracked later in the day with a follow-up statement that indicated Horner had indeed spoken to the German outlet.
Red Bull said that no official comment had been made on Mercedes’ car and that they will not be making comments about it.
Horner added to Sky Sports: “I was slightly surprised to be reading comments that I’m supposed to have been making but there we go. To be honest with you, I haven’t paid a great deal of attention to it.”
And similarly, his driver Verstappen – expected to be one of the main contenders for this year’s Driver’s Championship along with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton – says his team must not give too much thought to the cars of their rivals.
“No, I’m not concerned,” the 24-year-old told a press conference at the Bahrain International Circuit, where the 2022 season will officially get underway a week on Sunday.
“We can only focus on ourselves. I said this so many times last year, and we have to do it again this year, even if the cars look a bit different.
“There are so many unknown things, what we need to learn about, so I’m not worried at all.”
Horner meanwhile added: “It’s obviously a fairly different concept, but that’s for the designer guys and aerodynamicists to get into. Let the guys digest it and understand it.”
Asked about Horner’s quotes before Red Bull denied them, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff hit back: “How does he know half an hour after he saw the car for the first time that our car is supposed to be illegal?”
He added: “The development process is very transparent. The FIA receives the CAD data from us and is constantly kept informed.”
Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz was in the pitlane as Mercedes’ new-look car took to the track in the Middle East and explained the reason behind its bold design.
“It’s to accelerate the air as much as you can around the area on top of the diffuser, in order to make that ground effect absolutely as powerful as possible to push the car to the ground,” he said.
“I’m sure Red Bull are thinking, what is the benefit of that compared to ours? Do we have to worry about this?”
Despite some suggestions Mercedes may have contravened the rules, F1’s managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn is confident the car is legal.
Brawn declared: “I think there’s no doubt that the Mercedes concept we didn’t anticipate. It’s a very extreme interpretation of the regulation.
“Our initial impressions are that there’s nothing here that we would be overly concerned about in terms of those objectives in the regulations.
“The regulators of the sport know what’s going on – I think they’re ok with it so far, but a team may come in and raise an objection that the FIA hadn’t considered, and then you have a problem.”
Keyword: Max Verstappen gives take on Lewis Hamilton's new car as Mercedes dismiss 'illegal' claims