Why Red Bull Racing didn't see the fuel pump problems coming

Fuel pump of Italians

On Saturday, the FIA came out with a remarkable document. It was reported to the teams that they were given extra time to check their fuel pump. For this, the regulations were changed once, to give every team the chance to check the SSC fuel pump.

This pump has been a standard part for Formula 1 teams since 2022. The teams are no longer allowed to develop it themselves, but get one from a supplier designated by the FIA. The fuel pump for 2022 is made by the Italian company Magnetti Marelli.

The message from the FIA already set off alarm bells for some teams, and Ted Kravitz previously revealed that McLaren chose to replace this part. Red Bull Racing did not do so and may now regret it. Perez and Verstappen crashed out with a fuel supply problem.

Red Bull hasn't tested enough

So although it is not a part that Red Bull makes itself, Mark Hughes in his column for The Race reveals it's tough on Red Bull Racing. Whereas other teams had a much broader test program in Barcelona and Bahrain, Red Bull's program was more compact. This, according to Hughes, was due to all of Red Bull's updates and the delay caused by the title fight in 2021.

Where Ferrari had already experienced in the test days that the combination of the fuel pump and the new E10 fuel caused problems when the fuel was almost gone, Red Bull didn't notice this in the test days. According to the journalist, they had not gotten around to this test part because so much time was lost testing all the parts.

The question now is whether Red Bull will find a solution in time for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix which is scheduled in a week. In addition to the fuel pump, Red Bull also had problems with Verstappen's brakes getting too hot and after a pit stop Verstappen's power steering had also disappeared. So the RB18 is fast, but also very fragile.