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Former F1 driver Mark Webber believes Red Bull will remain “the most dangerous team” heading into the 2023 season despite facing penalties for breaching the 2022 cost cap.
Red Bull wiped the floor with its opposition in 2022, taking out the Drivers’ Championship thanks to phenomenal driving from Max Verstappen and the Constructors’ Championship thanks to Sergio Perez who gathered his biggest points haul in his F1 career.
Despite Ferrari looking like serious contenders at the start of the year, Red Bull took off in the second half of the campaign, winning 10 out of 11 races. Their only defeat came at the hands of the resurging Mercedes.
Two-time World Champion Max Verstappen says he expects a tougher challenge for the 2023 title, however according to Motorsport.com, former Red Bull driver Webber doesn’t quite buy the Dutchman’s words, saying the comment was just “very polite’.
Red Bull are still the most dangerous team coming out of the blocks,” said Webber.
“Actually, everyone has to lift their games in all aspects. We saw that Mercedes had great reliability, Ferrari of course less so. But Red Bull had good reliability and were strong at all tracks.
“And Max, it’s just ‘Formula 1 plus’ for him at times. I think the highlight for me was to see what he did through the field in Spa. That was just unbelievable.”
Will the penalties cost Red Bull?
Entering 2023, Red Bull will face the challenge of a limited aerodynamic testing allowance as a result of violating the $145 million budget cap in 2021.
With only 90% of their normal aerodynamic testing allowance until October, Christian Horner’s team is adamant that the penalty with have great consequences on the development of their RB19 which is set to be unveiled on the 3rd of February in New York.
Webber isn’t quite as sure that the reduced wind tunnel time will hamper their production, claiming no one knows how much the penalties will impact the team.
“I don’t think anyone knows really how much that’s going to impact them, but I’m sure they’ve got enough creative people there to keep it going,” said the Australian.
“But I think we also don’t know how much Mercedes have given up on this year. In some ways, giving up is not the right word, because there’s always some learning for next year.
“But I mean how they allocated the time, the R&D and the money under the budget cap between last year and the 2023 car.
“Thanks to those elements, it’s going to be fascinating to see how the first quarter plays out next season.”
Once all the cars have been unveiled for the 2023 season, all eyes will be on Bahrain pre-season testing during (February 23-25) where the teams will be able to flex their muscles on the track.