Red Bull: Mercedes F1 suspension could bring "powerful" gain in final races
Red Bull thinks Mercedes could enjoy a ‘quite powerful’ benefit from its clever rear suspension at some of the remaining Formula 1 races of the season.

Intrigue has surrounded the way that Mercedes has tuned its rear suspension system so that the back end of the car drops down at high speed on the straights.
This behaviour helps reduce drag to boost top speed, and Red Bull believes it played a key part in the advantage that Mercedes had at the recent Turkish Grand Prix.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Sky F1 in the United States last weekend that venues like Istanbul – with a lot of medium speed corners and long straights – was perfect for the Mercedes concept.
"I think that Mercedes are obviously optimising a straightline device that they're able to do at that type of circuit," Horner told Sky in Austin during FP1. "If you look at the rear of their car, how it lowers, I think [Turkey] played to their strengths."
However, tuning the Mercedes system for venues like the Circuit of the Americas, with higher speed turns, is much harder because there is not enough variation between the top corner speeds and the straights.
Horner believes though that some venues coming up on the calendar will be perfect for the Mercedes idea.
“It will have a greater influence at some tracks than others,” said Horner. “It was a reduced effect here [in the United States] but somewhere like Jeddah for example, it could be quite powerful.”
Although Red Bull is intrigued by what Mercedes has done with its suspension, the team is clear that it does not believe that the design breaks F1’s regulations.
“We don’t feel that it is illegal, no,” said Horner. “It's something that has been used historically. We've seen it used by them in the past.
“But obviously, what we saw in Turkey was quite an extreme version of it, which that circuit seemed to allow.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
Mercedes has downplayed the influence of its suspension system, and thinks Red Bull is making too much of the impact it brings.
Team boss Toto Wolff said: “I think we recognise absolutely that this is a sport where competitors will always try to find out if there is some kind of silver bullet.
"My experience is there is no such thing, it’s all the small gains, marginal gains that have been added and bring performance.
"We’re trying to really comprehend our car better and add performance in lap time without listening too much to the noise."
Read Also:
Related video

Horner: Chuck F1 form book away in title run-in
How Ferrari gained a new edge over McLaren in F1 2021 battle

Latest news
Team 18's coin toss chassis allocation
Supercars squad Team 18 used a combination of a coin toss and a ping pong ball lottery to allocate its new chassis to drivers Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom.
BRT not fazed by Ford aero questions
Blanchard Racing Team isn't fazed about the unresolved Ford aero package ahead of its maiden Gen3 Supercars test at Winton tomorrow.
Australian GP releases more race day tickets
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has announced a final limited release of race day tickets.
Tickford unveils first 2023 livery
Tickford Racing has unveiled its first livery ahead of the 2023 season with the covers coming off Brad Vaughan's Super2 entry.
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Nico Hulkenberg: Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing.
Why Vasseur relishes 'feeling the pressure' as Ferrari's F1 boss
OPINION: Fred Vasseur has spent only a few weeks as team principal for the Ferrari Formula 1 team, but is already intent on taking the Scuderia back to the very top. And despite it being arguably the most demanding job in motorsport, the Frenchman is relishing the challenge
The crucial tech changes F1 teams must adapt to in 2023
Changes to the regulations for season two of Formula 1's ground-effects era aim to smooth out last year’s troubles and shut down loopholes. But what areas have been targeted, and what impact will this have?
Are these the 50 quickest drivers in F1 history?
Who are the quickest drivers in Formula 1 history? Luke Smith asked a jury of experienced and international panel of experts and F1 insiders. Some of them have worked closely with F1’s fastest-ever drivers – so who better to vote on our all-time top 50? We’re talking all-out speed here rather than size of trophy cabinet, so the results may surprise you…
One easy way the FIA could instantly improve F1
OPINION: During what is traditionally a very quiet time of year in the Formula 1 news cycle, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been generating headlines. He’s been commenting on massive topics in a championship that loves them, but also addressing necessary smaller changes too. Here we suggest a further refinement that would be a big boon to fans
How can McLaren keep hold of Norris?
Lando Norris is no longer the young cheeky-chappy at McLaren; he’s now the established ace. And F1's big guns will come calling if the team can’t give him a competitive car. Here's what the team needs to do to retain its prize asset
What difference did F1's fastest pitstops of 2022 make?
While a quick pitstop can make all the difference to the outcome of a Formula 1 race, most team managers say consistency is more important than pure speed. MATT KEW analyses the fastest pitstops from last season to see which ones – if any – made a genuine impact
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.