Red Bull could soon be challenging Mercedes’ dominance at the next couple of races.
The Spanish and Monaco grands prix both rely on downforce, rather than outright engine power – unlike the opening four races which Mercedes dominated.
Whilst it’s known Mercedes enjoys a power advantage over Renault, Red Bull’s RB10 has greater downforce than the W05 – something even Lewis Hamilton has admitted.
“The Red Bull is very, very fast through the high-speed, which tells me they maybe have a little bit more downforce than us,” said the Briton just this week.
Due to the nature of the Circuit de Catalunya and the Monaco street circuit, downforce is king.
Whilst Red Bull’s slight advantage in that area may not be enough to close the gap to Mercedes, it’s believed Renault will bring large updates to its power unit for the Spanish GP, continuing its steady progress.
Four-time champion Alain Prost reckons it’ll only be a couple of races before Renault and Mercedes are evenly matched.
“The most important thing [for Renault] is to work and make progress as soon as possible,” he told Autosport. “Let’s wait and see another two or three races and it could be quite different.
Renault won the world championship four times and now they are the outsiders, so it’s also good for the championship.”
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