The team decided to go with Red Bull RB18 di Verstappen e Perez la second seasonal unit. Both will have new components to face the weekend in Baku with more peace of mind.
Such a long world championship needs planning. However, the unexpected is around the corner. Any problem risks compromising the plans made at the beginning of the year. The teams plan the life window of a power unit and components, trying to make the most of each element so as not to incur penalties but above all to return to the costs undermined by the budget cap. Introducing more elements than expected would in fact mean incurring expenses not foreseen in the planning.
Red Bull news
As reported by Dutch journalist Erik Van Haren of the newspaper The Telegraph the second Honda/Red Bull power unit to be introduced a Baku it will not be an updated version.
On the car of Verstappen components number 2 will be mounted as regards heat engine, turbo, MGU-H and MGU-K. While Perez, will arrive at the 3 unit of turbo and MGU-H, after the latter had already been introduced after the withdrawal in Bahrain.
An unfinished business
Just a Baku in 2021 Max risked losing a huge amount of points which probably, in hindsight, would have cost him the world championship. After a dominated race, the Dutchman retired in the final due to a tire failure. Self Lewis Hamilton then, had he not made a serious mistake when restarting, Max would probably have an even heavier memory.
A year later Verstappen arrives at Azerbaijan GP as world leader, with that episode still vivid but with the determination to make up for it and take back what he didn't get in 2021 right on the Azerbaijani city track.
La Ferrari he showed, especially in qualifying, that he is almost unbeatable but in the race things often get mixed up. It will be interesting to see how close the two teams will be.
Ferrari responds
Ferrari has lost a lot of ground after the defeats a Barcelona – which occurred due to a technical KO of the F1-75 that Leclerc was leading to victory – e Monaco, race decided by strategy. Red Bull therefore arrives in Baku with more confidence, after the clear superiority shown last year. One of the factors that could benefit the Milton Keynes team is precisely that of top speed, even if we know that Ferrari has partly closed this gap.
With Power Unit number 2 already equipped with the second unit of all 4 components Ferrari would have decided to use in Baku turbo and MGU-H number '3' to combine with engine number 2. We remind you that after the third unit of each element a penalty is triggered. Turbo and MGU-H are the two components that betrayed Charles Leclerc in Barcelona. Precisely for this reason, the team decided to rely on freshest items to push on the Azeri track.
The F1-75 highlighted the progress of the Maranello team in working on top speed. Especially when DRS is open. Baku, with its 2,2 km long straight, will therefore be a good testing ground for Ferrari but also to see how close Red Bull has come to the performance of the Ferrari in the driven sections.
Source: Formula Passion
