“We’re going to start! Finally!”, Tim Coronel roars enthusiastically over the phone RacingNews365. “Normally everyone plays a bit of hide and seek during the test days and you find out in Melbourne how good the teams are. First we came back from a cold fair, but now it really starts! Eight races in ten weeks! I’m ready . “
“The teams could not fully develop due to certain rules. All nice and nice, but now I just want to see who has the best car. Whether Red Bull has that car in order or not. You see that the whole of the Netherlands is struggling with this question: is the Red Bull car fast enough for the title, or are they going after the facts again? “
The word upgrade has been frequent in recent days. Where the teams normally introduce their first major upgrade during the first European Grand Prix of the season in May, they are now taking several upgrades to Spielberg. Red Bull and Mercedes are talking about major changes, all not really tested on the track.
“But the engineers have gone into detail. We are actually seeing the Barcelona upgrades on the Red Bull Ring. The race in Austria will not be representative of the rest of the season due to the type of track. However, it is a job that Max Verstappen and the Red Bull are good, they have performed great in recent years, “said Tim Coronel.
“Often the tipping point for Red Bull was here during the season. I think they have very good opportunities this year. The first blow is worth a drop and there is a lot of confidence in the team.”
Where Red Bull and Max Verstappen did everything to avoid the fastest time during the winter test days – the Dutchman flashed off his gas during his fastest rounds – Red Bull has to go naked in Austria. “Everyone has to, including Red Bull. They are all tense because they don’t really know what to expect. All we know for sure is that Max is one hundred percent ready.”
Tim Coronel also has great confidence in Honda engine supplier. Previously, the engine was Red Bull’s Achilles heel, but now that is a thing of the past: “At the end of last season they were able to compete with Mercedes. You are as good as your last races and they performed very well.”
Will we have the titanic battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton? Can we even smooth out Ferrari? These and other questions are discussed in detail in the latest podcast of RacingNews365 with F1 journalist Ruud Dimmers, race car driver Tom Coronel and host Thomas van Groningen, which can be heard below.
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