Red Bull Racing faced an important challenge right in the first TL1 at the new Madrid circuit. Laurent Mekies highlighted that tire behavior will be one of the main points of attention for the team during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in Formula 1.
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In an interview with Sky Sports after the first laps at Madring, the Red Bull Racing chief highlighted the complexity of the layout, which combines different types of corners and leaves little room for errors: “It will be a huge challenge. The walls, the tires, all kinds of high-speed corners, so we’ll see,” he said.
Mekies also noted that the usually competitive teams appeared in the top positions, with Mercedes and Ferrari leading after the initial session. For the director, however, it is still early to establish a definitive scenario for the rest of the weekend.
The main problem identified is related to tire management. According to Mekies, the characteristics of the new circuit cause the compounds to overheat quickly throughout the lap, which can cause graining.
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“You overheat the tires very quickly throughout the lap and then you see the graining,” explained the Red Bull chief. The observation places tire temperature control among the points the team will need to better understand as the weekend progresses.
Therefore, Red Bull will have to deal with a still little-known circuit and with a characteristic that can compromise tire performance. Mekies, however, emphasized that the first session represents only the beginning of adaptation to the new layout.
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