The Red Bull RB18 could be the heaviest car on the grid at the beginning of 2022 according to Helmut Marko.
Red Bull Racing’s new RB18 is overweight, according to Helmut Marko, who hopes that a late modification to F1’s minimum weight limits for 2022 will remedy the problem.
The FIA has continuously increased the minimum weight of Formula 1 cars since the start of the hybrid era in 2014. To compensate for this year’s drastic new technical standards, the FIA increased the minimum car-plus-driver weight to 795 kilograms, over 200 kilograms more than it was 20 years ago.
According to Auto Motor und Sport, only Alfa Romeo has been able to produce a 2022 car that is at or below that weight limit as reports suggest McLaren’s car is also on the edge of the limit.
F1 teams often construct their cars to be underweight, then add ballast to meet the minimum weight requirement.
The wholesale alterations this year, particularly the addition of 18-inch wheels, have posed considerable problems for each team’s design department.
The majority of the teams’ designs that were unveiled in Barcelona last week, according to Marko, were overweight to some degree, and world champion Max Verstappen’s 2022 chassis is reputedly one of the heaviest cars in the paddock at the moment.
“The only problem we have is weight, but all teams have that except for one,” Marko said.
“It’s good that the minimum weight was already increased, but there is still a lot of work to be done before the first race.”
Before the start of the 2022 season in Bahrain next month, Marko urged that the FIA and F1 alter the minimum weight rule.
However, such a course of action would necessitate a vote by the F1 Commission, with eight of F1’s ten teams agreeing to raise the minimum threshold, which is unlikely given that several outfits may be satisfied with their car’s present load.
Teams will resume their pre-season testing programmes on March 10 in Bahrain, where everyone will regroup for another three days of preparations ahead of the season opener in Bahrain.
