Red Bull also favourite for Emilia Romagna Grand Prix: 'Will suit them well'

F1 News

1 April 2021 at 08:09
Last update 1 April 2021 at 10:33
  • GPblog.com

Mercedes and Red Bull Racing were very close in Bahrain. Red Bull may have had the better car, but Mercedes had the better strategy on Sunday. According to Rob Smedley however, Red Bull is again the favourite in Imola.

In qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix it became clear what had already become apparent during the winter test. Red Bull really can compete for the world title. In fact, the RB16B currently looks better than Mercedes' W12. However, with a three week break to the next Grand Prix there is plenty of time for the teams to work on their cars.

Red Bull the favourite

''Mercedes' plan will be to close that gap, but Red Bull will want to increase the gap. The gap is not huge. It's only a few tenths, so they will be close in Imola as well. That means another good race is coming,'' says the former Ferrari and Williams engineer at F1TV's Weekend Debrief.

When asked by Ted Kravitz if the Imola circuit suits Red Bull better, Smedley already has an answer. ''The point is that Red Bull has a better car now, so it's faster through the corners. Especially the medium speed corners. Imola has a lot of them, so Red Bull will be fine with that. That car is good on the asphalt and less difficult to drive this year,'' Smedley concludes.