F1 News
Red Bull top engineer: "We could have beaten Mercedes"
- GPblog.com
Mercedes had one of their most dominant Formula One seasons to date. Yet Pierre Wache, chief engineer at Red Bull Racing, thinks the team missed a big opportunity. He even thinks Mercedes could have been defeated in 2020.
The Red Bull team has been driving with the concept of high rake for a long time: In this, the rear of the car is relatively high in relation to the front. This generates more downforce.
Wache thinks Red Bull could have beaten Mercedes
Mercedes, in turn, drives with a lower rake, combined with a long wheelbase. As a result, the distance between the front and rear tyres is greater. This too generates downforce.
For the time being, Mercedes has always stayed one step ahead of Red Bull, which makes one wonder if Red Bull's design really works that well. According to Wache, it does, but it was balance issues that threw a spanner in the works earlier in the season.
"We missed an opportunity, because I think Mercedes was beatable. If we could have gotten as much out of the car earlier in the season as we are doing now, we would have beaten them. That makes me angry, and I'm not the only one," Wache tells Motorsport Magazine.
He continues: "They did a good job, but they are far from perfect. They are beatable, even with those engines."