Nothing that’s happened in Formula 1 testing has dented Red Bull’s status as pre-season favourite in the upcoming championship. It set an ominous pace over the three days in Bahrain and once again looks like the car to beat. What testing has done is prove that main rivals Ferrari, which looked quick over a lap but struggled more over long runs, and Mercedes, which battled balance problems, are determined to go their own way with their cars.
Other than Mercedes and the Italian side, almost every team in Formula 1 has decided to go more in the direction of Red Bull’s concept – except for Haas, which is locked into a more Ferrari-esque style given the fact that the American side uses many components from the Maranello factory. That is because Red Bull is Formula 1’s most successful car and, presumably, because those teams have evaluated Red Bull’s ideas back at their factories and seen enough to make them believe it’s the right way to go for these still-young ground effect regulations.
So why are Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari so convinced that their alternative approaches are going to work? Just how different are the three cars and is there any chance that Red Bull might not be on the right track for the long term?
—- see video above —
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