Mekis: We expected a strength test in Barcelona.
In Barcelona, the Red Bull Racing car was the fourth fastest, behind Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren. After the race, team principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged that this order of strength was not a surprise to him, as engineers expected that the configuration of the Spanish track would reveal the weaknesses of the RB22.
Laurent Mekies: "We expected a test of strength in Barcelona. This was the first track since the races in China and Japan with a long straight, medium-speed, and fast corners. Therefore, the team anticipated a somewhat different result compared to Monaco, where we suddenly fought for pole.
The weekend in Barcelona confirmed progress because now we are three to four tenths of a second behind pole. That’s how much we still need to make up to compete for wins. At the beginning of the year, the gap on tracks of this type was completely different.
There is no doubt that we are losing both in terms of the power unit and the chassis, so we need to keep working in these areas."
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Mekis: We expected a strength test in Barcelona.
Laurent Mekis acknowledged that the power dynamics in Barcelona did not come as a surprise to him, as the engineers anticipated that the configuration of the Spanish track would reveal the weaknesses of the RB22.