红牛地址佩雷斯减薪谣言作为潜在的RB19 ‘loophole’ discussed – F1 news round-up

Henry Valantine 09 Aug 2023 11:00 PM

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen side-by-side. F1 news. — A split screen of Red Bull drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.

The summer break is in full swing, but that has not stopped the world of F1 news from turning, and there is still plenty to digest from the day.

Red Bull have dominated Wednesday’s headlines, with Helmut Marko coming out and addressing rumours of Sergio Perez potentially receiving a pay cut after falling behind Max Verstappen.

There’s plenty more besides, so let’s dive in to Wednesday’s F1 news round-up.

Helmut Marko rubbishes Sergio Perez pay cut claims

With Sergio Perez haven fallen away from contention in the Drivers’ standings, his performance deficit to Max Verstappen prompted a report from Dutch media in the summer break that he may even end up with a pay cut at Red Bull as a result.

However, Helmut Marko has now come out publicly to state this is completely untrue.

“I don’t know where this is coming from again,” Marko toldF1-Insider.com. “It’s completely made up out of thin air.

“The contracts are precisely regulated. There will be no salary cuts.

“I can only say it again and again: we are leading the Drivers’ Championship with both drivers and are clearly ahead in the team ranking.”

Could AlphaTauri run Red Bull RB19 in 2024 using an FIA ‘loophole?’

With Red Bull looking to bring AlphaTauri, or however they will be known next season after their rebrand, as close as possible to the team in 2024, a rumour emerged that a potential way of making this year’s backmarkers quicker is potentially using the all-conquering RB19 chassis as a base for their 2024 challenger.

While that could have its merits, 2015 Le Mans winner Richard Bradley explained that only the FIA will know the inner workings of the rules that would permit or deny that from being the case.

However, there could be a “loophole” that Red Bull could exploit.

“我不知道许可证交易是如何工作的。我不知道w how the naming of the licencing works and that’s something that only the FIA will know. But there might be a loophole there, whereby they can get away with giving it to AlphaTauri purely because they literally own and fund the team,” Bradley explained on the On Track GP podcast.

“So then you could argue that it’s actually coming from their own source and everything and it’s not a copycat thing. The copycat thing would be literally where someone just takes a lot of pictures and does a direct copy of it. So there could be some loopholes.”

Mercedes admit falling into ‘trap’ with 2022 regulations

Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott admitted the team fell into a “trap” with how they interpreted the 2022 regulations, by trying to run the W13 as close to the ground as possible.

This had a significant knock-on effect by how much the car suffered with ‘porpoising’, and it blighted the quality of the ride Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had behind the wheel last season.

While that problem has been mostly rectified this time around, they are still some way off the pace off Red Bull – though he said the team are confident of where they stand regarding 2024 development.

“For these cars, aerodynamically they want to run close to the ground. And so, if you run them close to ground, you have to run them stiff – and that’s one of the traps we fell into last year, if we’re honest,” Elliott admitted to media including PlanetF1.com.

“So I think there’s always going to be that balance you have on this set of regulations. When you’ve got cars that want to run really close to the ground, how do you get that balance right?”

Charles Leclerc confused by Ferrari stance with new contract talks yet to start

Charles Leclerc’s contract with Ferrari expires at the end of next year, and while he made it clear he wants to stay with the Scuderia, he is unsure what is expected of him in the meantime.

While he would be a surefire candidate for a Mercedes seat if one were to appear, he is focusing on what he can control.

“The rumours that put me in other teams just means that I’m doing my job well,” Leclerc is widely quoted as having told Corriere dello Sport.

“But I’m indifferent about them because I know what I want. I still don’t know what Ferrari wants from me.

“The discussions about the contract haven’t started yet, but everything is clear to me, I love Ferrari and I want to win here. That is my priority.”

Legendary F1 chassis to go under the hammer

A Ferrari F2001B driven by Michael Schumacher is set to go up for auction, and given the rarity and race-winning status of the car to begin the 2002 season – a year in which Schumacher finished every race on the podium – it could end up reaching a huge amount of money.

The F2001B was used for the first two races of the 2002 season while the all-conquering F2002 was completed, so the carryover from the previous year was used in its place – and Schumacher went and took victory in Australia and a third place in Malaysia with it.

It’ll now go up for sale, and don’t be surprised if it ends up becoming one of the most expensive Formula 1 cars ever sold when a buyer is eventually found.