Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s other F1 rivals could gain intel on Red Bull’s secrets after Sergio Perez’s crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Perez lost control of his car at turn five just minutes into Friday practice, smashing against the barrier and bringing out the red flags.
However, the team could face a double blow with Martin Brundle claiming that teams were able to snap images of key Red Bull parts. It comes at the worst possible time for Red Bull, who introduced new upgrades at this weekend’s race.
Brundle told Sky Sports F1: “They were telling me a little bit earlier on that a very good number of them were able to photograph the underneath of the Red Bull when Sergio Perez crashed earlier on.
“I’m sure that will be most useful to other teams and a lot of pain for Red Bull, with their updated car, to have that all photographed again.” Red Bull suffered a similar fate after another Perez shunt at Monaco as the RB19 was lifted into the air.
Giving away images of key parts could prove costly with rival teams desperate to find extra pace and intel. Red Bull are more exposed being the quickest car on the grid having secured victory at every race this season.
There was speculation McLaren may have used the Monaco accident to copy some of the team’s ideas. This was only increased after Mercedes claimed the British constructors’ machine looked like a Red Bull.
Team boss Andrea Stella seemed to admit they had taken a look at images before deciding on new upgrades. He said: “Pretty much all teams have their professional photographers that take as much as possible.
“And this is inspiration, I would detract from our aerodynamic department if I said: ‘Yes, we saw that, now we have the solution’.”
Red Bull has introduced a new sidepod for the weekend with tweaks also made to the rear bodywork and floor. It is expected that the new parts could improve their pace by around 0.2s per lap.
Brundle was critical of Perez’s accident after FP1 as he revealed the “pressure” had gotten to the experienced Red Bull star. He commented: “I can’t get my head around that. It is a rookie error.
“I think back to his brilliant victories earlier this year in Saudi and in Azerbaijan, and his utterly brilliant victory last year in Singapore on a drying track, one of the most challenging races I’ve seen in a long time, where he was perfect. And then, he does that.
“I can only assume it’s the pressure. He didn’t just clip the edge of the grass or the white line, he was on the grass by a metre or so. I can’t get my head around it at all.”
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