“No Wonder the RB19…”: Despite a Decent Step Up, Lewis Hamilton & Co. Give a Bitter Dose of Reality on the Difference in Class to Red Bull

Remember how Max Verstappen’s Toro Rosso’s engine cover tore apart in the 2015 Italian GP? The whole engine bay was visible, giving other teams information on how they packed their power unit. Looks like competition again got a look at the advantage that Red Bull was trying to hide. Nevertheless, despite the descent step that Lewis Hamilton and Co. made in Monaco, a bitter dose of reality was served to them because of this leaked Red Bull secret. 

Mercedes arrived in Monaco with the much-awaited upgrades which were planned for Imola. New side pods, floor, and front suspension were the major highlights of this upgrade package. Whilst the car wasn’t that much quicker than the last iteration, Lewis Hamilton seemed happy and more comfortable in the car, which means the pace will eventually come. Anyway, Monaco does not tell the reality of a car’s true performance. 

Despite a decent step up, Ted Kravitz gave Mercedes a hard time. Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes all crashed at least once in Monaco this year. As a result, they lifted the cars by a crane revealing the underfloor of all three cars. Ted Kravitz explained that in front of the Red Bull floor, the Mercedes and Ferrari floors look like a thing of the past. He added that it is no surprise that Red Bull is dominating with a car that has such an amazing floor. 

According to F1Maximall.nl, Ted Kravitz said, “Thanks to Perez, the entire Formula 1 has seen the legendary Red Bull floor. Look for yourself, it’s a wonderful and wonderful thing. Especially if you compare it to the floor of Mercedes and Ferrari, which we also saw on cranes, the floors look prehistoric. I tell you, if you look at these photos and compare them to those of Mercedes and Ferrari, it’s no wonder the RB19 is so good.” [Translated via Google]

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The reality does hurt because Red Bull has developed such an advanced floor with the least amount of aerodynamic testing time. However, every team will definitely try to take inspiration from these images and videos.

Aston Martin’s performance director on learning from these lifted cars

Aston Martin was the only top team to not have their car lifted up by the crane. Nevertheless, it is believed that Aston Martin still has a basic floor and will bring the newer one to Barcelona. Tom McCullough explained how there are many pictures and videos of the cars lifted up in the sky and that it can provide huge amounts of information to the team. 

According to Autosport.com, Tom McCullough said, “Obviously, there are some great photos! A lot of people were there, so I’m sure the aerodynamicists will be having a good look at all the cars that were lifted up. Thankfully, ours hasn’t been lifted up yet. Let’s try and keep it that way! The aerodynamicists never want you to show that. You learn a lot from just even how the plank is wearing. You learn from what’s touching. There’s a lot of very excited aerodynamicists up and down the pitlane looking at all of that.”

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What do you make of all these cars lifted high up in the air? Is there any other possible way to transport them?