RacingRacing Bulls will bring its first major VCARB03 upgrade in Miami instead of Bahrain, and Alan Permane says the timing now creates a rare squeeze with another big package still locked in for Montreal soon after.
Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, told selected media including Motorsport-Total.com that the team had "a pretty decent upgrade planned for Bahrain, which we will see in Miami" in an interview with selected media including Motorsport-Total.com. He said another upgrade was already scheduled for Montreal, which leaves Racing Bulls in what he described as an unusual spot. "There’s no way to bring them both. The Montreal one we can’t bring earlier, so it’s a slightly strange situation where we’ll bring a new, quite a decent upgrade, a new component and then almost replace it straight away," Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, said in the same interview. "That’s just the way the calendar’s fallen."
The shift came after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races were canceled, creating a five-week gap in the early part of the Formula 1 season. But Permane said the interruption did not really change the team’s wider development cycle. "The actual upgrade cycle is pretty well planned," Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, said in the same interview, adding that the parts schedule is mapped out weeks in advance.
What the delay did change, according to Permane in the same interview, was the number of parts Racing Bulls expects to have ready when the Miami package arrives. He said the team had originally expected only limited supply for Bahrain, with "one or two, probably two to three sets" available. By moving that debut to Miami, Racing Bulls now expects "three to four sets," Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, said in the same interview. He said the extra time allowed the team to build more quantities of the planned Bahrain update for the Miami round.
That matters because Racing Bulls believes it is right in the middle of a tight fight. Permane said in the same interview that the team sits seventh in the constructors’ standings after three races, only four points behind fourth-placed Haas. Alpine and Red Bull are tied on points in fifth, although Permane said he expects Red Bull to move clear of that battle. He added that Audi should also join the same group Racing Bulls is fighting in with Haas and Alpine.
Within that pack, Permane said Racing Bulls is encouraged by what it has seen so far. He said in the same interview that the team is satisfied with its first three races and believes the upcoming run of development can improve its place in the midfield. "I’m very confident that we can keep up, if not even be better than the other midfield teams," Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, said in the same interview.
He also said Racing Bulls has more than just the Miami and Montreal packages on the way. "I would say there will be small steps almost every race, and we’ve already got two or three bigger upgrades planned," Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, said in the same interview. He added that the team cannot see much further ahead than that, but said, "Up to the summer break we’ve got a plan," before concluding, "I’m therefore very confident that we can stay in this group."