Red Bull: Helmut Marko hopes to gain “three tenths” overall
Red Bull's head of operations, Helmut Marko, believes that the introduction of a new fuel could gain up to three-tenths of a second per lap. The Austrian team would solve its flow meter issues while closing the gap with Mercedes.
Since the beginning of the 2014 season, Red Bull has been looking to unlock speed in every area. In this quest for performance, the arrival of a new fuel could provide the Austrian team with an extra boost of power and solve their chronic flow meter issues.
During the appeal hearing of Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification, the FIA’s engine chief, Fabrice Lom, revealed that the fuel provided by Total affected the sensitivity of the flow meters and even damaged them.
A new gasoline formula could solve this problem. Helmut Marko says it should happen very soon: « We will also soon have a new fuel. We might have it for the next race in Spain. »
According to Helmut Marko, a new fuel produced by Shell is the reason why Ferrari was ahead of the RB10s last weekend in China. He states in Bild that: « Ferrari has clearly made a big step forward in China. They have a new fuel. »
Thanks to this new fuel produced by Total, Red Bull could follow in Ferrari’s footsteps in terms of performance and thus close the gap separating them from Mercedes. The Austrian promises: « This new fuel will make us gain two tenths or even three tenths per lap. This way we might at least have a chance to overtake Ferrari. On Sunday, our drivers could have done everything they could, but they wouldn’t have been able to overtake Alonso. »
Indeed, Sebastian Vettel had the opportunity to observe that, despite a superior pace on most parts of the circuit, the Red Bull was unable to gain an advantage over the Ferrari in the long back straight of the Shanghai circuit last Sunday.
