HPD wrote: ↑18 Mar 2019, 17:55
"We have too little downforce, but that's born of the philosophy of the last five years, where we constantly had to compensate for lack of performance. We have always looked at the straights as little air resistance as possible. That's why we did not have any big wings in Melbourne. They do not exist in our imagination. "
"We try to solve this as soon as possible. As fast as we bring it through CFD development and production. "
"There was no problem with the engine since the first practice lap. We wanted to maximize energy for the last three laps, but unfortunately Max slipped off the track. "
"We still had plenty of overtaking mode power and a full battery in the back of the hand. The strategy was designed to go into the final laps with the best possible tires and pick up everything for the final. Anyone who knows Max knows: he would have tried. "
"The Bottas had two laps to fill up everything optimally. That was a quali-mode in the end. We would not have had a chance. "
Red Bull estimates that 10 rather than 20 hp missing on Mercedes. This gap should be closed as soon as possible.
"The board, which was in Melbourne, has promised us that more power will come soon. It's up to us to develop the chassis to catch up with the people ahead of us. "
"If the performance increase is significant, we will not wait until the eighth race. Then we also accept a penalty for a run-off. "
https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... lien-2019/
I figured as much when I wrote
"To me, and take with a grain or pound of salt, the car isn't running enough wing for this specific track(not entirely their fault either, a learning experience). The power they have, they could afford to run a bit more downforce and drag compared to Mercedes and Ferrari. Granted it's a moving target from track to track, so yes as the season wears on, and they know how to balance drag, downforce, and top speed to get the best time from the package the performance can improve.
In Q3 Max lost most of his time to Hamilton on corner exit, and non DRS straights, indicating the Mercedes lump still has some extra grunt, and either the car is packing more downforce in general, or the suspension is working better on slow corner exits. I'm going with the former, they can live with slightly lower top speeds because they still have a power advantage, and more time is gained in the corners."
In the race Bottas was on average ~.35 seconds a lap faster. Fastest lap Bottas was just over .6 seconds faster, roughly equal to the qualifying gap. So I think this gap is realistic, as well as there being potential for Red Bull and Honda to close that gap. A quarter second from Honda, and a quarter second from the chassis will put them on par with Mercedes on every track. As it is now, the balance of power will be a moving target, on some tracks they'll be closer, on a few they may be ahead. The downforce and power deficit only amounts to just over .5 seconds so it's not the end of the world, however out-developing Mercedes will not be easy.
Realistically barring some revelation, I can see Red Bull chassis making up .2 seconds to Mercedes this year, and Honda another .15. A gap of just over .2 at Albert Park is enough for the human aspect to make a difference, and may be enough to mount a challenge over the year, especially if Ferrari decides to join the title fight. If the top 3 are within .3 seconds and they're all taking points off each other, then it increases Red Bull's chances. Unfortunately a two horse race between Mercedes and Red Bull with the current deficit will be very difficult to overcome.
Fortunately this is just the start of the season, it's a year long struggle, with many different venues, many different circumstances. It took Hamilton 5 races last year before he got into his groove, it took Verstappen 6 races and DNF's before getting into his groove. While the car improves its imperative that RB maximize their points and opportunities to score. Consistency and lack of mistakes is a large part of winning the championship, it's how Alonso took a slower car to the last race and lost out by 1 point, on two different seasons, consistency, and lack of mistakes.
..... guess not 
...thank you