Red Bull are ‘the benchmark’, says Wolffpublished at 14:32 GMT
14:32 GMT
Image source, Getty Images
All eyes have been on Mercedes following the private test in Barcelona last month but fast forward to Bahrain and boss Toto Wolff says Red Bull and their new power unit are the ones setting the standard.
“They are able to deploy far more energy on the straights than everybody else,” Wolff said. “You are speaking a second, over consecutive laps.
“On a single lap we have seen it before, but now we have seen it on 10 consecutive laps with the same kind of straight-line deployment.
“I would say that as per today, on the first official day of testing, which is always with the caveat of that, they have set the benchmark.”
Red Bull are beginning their new engine partnership with Ford this year as they take on established F1 engine builders Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda.
The Silver Arrows did the most miles and set the some of the fastest times during the Barca shakedown. But an engine trick the team have deployed has got their rivals in a bit of a tizzy…