The cancellation of the Bahrain and Jeddah grands prix may be detrimental to Red Bull – unlike some other Formula 1 teams.
F1’s Middle Eastern rounds have been scrapped due to the impact of the ongoing Iran war in the region, creating a five-week gap between the Suzuka and Miami events, this weekend and in early May respectively.
Red Bull had a tough Chinese Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar outqualified by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in both qualifying sessions. The RB22’s lack of performance meant it scored no points in the sprint, while Verstappen retired from sixth in the grand prix due to an ERS cooling issue, promoting Hadjar to eighth; the Dutchman was battling with Oliver Bearman and Gasly over fifth place but couldn’t challenge the Mercedes and Ferraris.
“For sure, we need more grip,” Hadjar said at the end of the weekend. “It’s just all about that. It’s the most important bit so far.”
Asked if not having any races in April would give Red Bull more time to bring upgrades, the Frenchman replied: “Yes, and less points lost to everyone else, so for sure.”
However, new engine manufacturer Red Bull Ford Powertrain could have done without the break, according to Hadjar. “The more racing the more we understand, the closer we get to the best engines on the grid,” he added. “On that side it’s definitely a bit of a disadvantage for us, but it’s fine.”
As far as aero upgrades are concerned, Verstappen has acknowledged that making significant inroads relative to Red Bull’s competition would be tricky: “After Japan, of course you have a few extra weeks to put a bit more performance on the car, but at the same time others also put performance, right?
“It’s really not where we want to be. I know everyone is of course trying their best and I think they are as frustrated with it as me, within the team. We of course want to be better, and hopefully we already can be a little bit better in Japan.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images
At an Aston Martin outfit in deep trouble due to power unit problems – the new Honda engine’s vibrations damage batteries and cause driver health concerns – the unexpected break is viewed with its positives and negatives.
“There are two sides to it,” chief trackside officer Mike Krack said. “Being on track, it allows you to discover new things. But not being on track, it helps you to solve problems without the intensity of the calendar. So there are certainly two aspects to it.”
Key to Honda’s recovery will be the ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) mechanism; power units will be evaluated after the sixth, 12th and 18th grands prix of the season. Each time, manufacturers that are between 2% and 4% down on the best engine’s power will be allowed an additional upgrade, while those who are more than 4% down will get two.
But with two fewer rounds in the first part of the season, the first evaluation will now theoretically take place after the Monaco Grand Prix in June, one month later than the Miami race as initially planned.
Asked about talks to restore the initial ADUO timeline, Krack said: “Of course, it is clear that the earlier we can make improvements, the better it is, but I have been out of these discussions, to be honest, so these are on a different level.”
Meanwhile, at other struggling teams, the April break has been welcomed.
Williams skipped the Barcelona pre-season test due to delays in its 2026 programme; its overweight FW48 has scored just two points thus far, with two double Q1 exits in Shanghai – though its mass is not its only problem, Alex Albon insisted.
“Every single hour of that break we need in order to get ourselves back on the front foot by the time we come back to Miami,” team principal James Vowles said in The Vowles Verdict.
“Clearly, we haven’t started the season where we wanted to. So that period for us is about taking stock of what we actually really can change. Now, without attrition, we can count on the fact that production can be moved towards future performance.
“Some of that may come in Miami, some of that after that.”
Alexander Albon, Williams
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
He added: “It’s no secret that we’re overweight. Again, the developments will be in that period of time, making sure that we’re able to reduce the mass in the car in a sensible fashion.
“We’ve gone through, by that point, three grands prix, but there’s never enough time after the event to go through every single tiny bit of data and understand really what we should have done in hindsight and what programmes we want to kick off in the future. And this provides us a good time to do that.
“The drivers will come back here to the UK, and we’ll run our simulator on basically every single day of that as much as possible. We’ll complete pitstop practice with the crew back here as many days that we can as well. So it’ll be more about what do we fit in and what will provide the most bang for buck.”
New team Cadillac, which started life in F1 with a slightly more basic challenger as the squad made sure to meet its deadlines comfortably, sees the break as an opportunity to prepare its upcoming upgrades as well as sort some teething problems.
“I think it’s actually quite beneficial for us,” Valtteri Bottas commented. “We have more time to sort things out – because we still have issues, you know, we still haven’t had a trouble-free week – and also more time to gain more performance. And everyone has been working flat out for months now, so actually maybe for some people to have a bit of a breather as well, this is good.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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