Sergio Perez’s serious accident at the Monaco GP is costing Red Bull dearly. There was not much left of the Mexican’s Formula 1 car after the collision with Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hülkenberg and a Monegasque crash barrier. The spare parts are tearing a big hole in the world champion team’s budget.
Motorsport boss Dr. Helmut Marko estimates the damage to the RB20 at two and a half to three million euros. The range of half a million euros is a result of “we don’t yet know what the gearbox and engine look like,” says Marko.
The money itself is only a secondary problem for Red Bull Racing. It is bitter, however, that accident damage is not exempt from the budget cap. “That clearly affects us, because there are considerations about what to do to the car. We are then missing three million for our considerations,” complains the Austrian in an interview with Motorsport-Magazin.com.
“In the worst case scenario, that means we can do less development,” he explains. This has no short-term impact on performance, the next update package has long been in the pipeline. But Red Bull is also making the RB20 update program dependent on the competition.
Does Red Bull have to react to Ferrari and McLaren?
The doctor warns: “If we have to do something extra because of the greater competitiveness of Ferrari and McLaren, we are of course handicapped.” Red Bull has failed to win two of the last three Grands Prix, and victory in Imola was also hanging by a thread. In Milton Keynes, at least Charles Leclerc is seen as a serious contender for the World Championship. The Ferrari driver is only 31 points behind Max Verstappen in the championship.
At the next Formula 1 race in Canada, Red Bull could experience a double nasty surprise. The track in Montreal requires a forgiving chassis when driving over the kerbs. This seems to be the Achilles heel of the RB20. The second danger is due to the Monaco accident. The spare parts situation is now tense. “If there is another crash, not everything will be available for both cars,” reveals Marko.
Who was actually to blame for the accident: Perez, Magnussen, no one – or even both? Our expert Christian Danner has a clear and interesting opinion on this, as you can see in the AvD Motorsport magazine: