Heading to Mexico for the 20th race of the season, Red Bull has both the World Drivers’ Championship and the World Constructors’ Champion safely wrapped up. But for the Austrian team, there are still victories to be achieved, and they are paying close attention to what their rivals are doing and how they fared in the Free Practice sessions.

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The first 2 FP sessions were dominated by Ferrari and Mercedes, respectively. Red Bull, as usual, ran a little behind. Drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez sat somewhere around P4 and P5 in the two sessions that have taken place till now. On the other hand, their rival Ferrari earned an excellent P1-P2 in the first session, with Mercedes topping FP2.

However, this hasn’t put any worries on Red Bull’s advisor, Helmut Marko’s shoulders.

Speaking to Motorsport-Total after the completion of proceedings on Friday, he said, “The analysis has shown that we are clearly at the top together with Ferrari. The brakes and temperatures are critical here.”

“But if the weather forecast is correct, it should be considerably cooler on Saturday, possibly even wet. Then the braking load will also make it easier.” (Translated via Google)

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Sunday night in Mexico (as well as the coming GPs) are more decorative than anything for Red Bull. The team will be chasing records. Nevertheless, they aren’t the ones to cool down because of that and will be working extra hard to grab those points.

Red Bull now has to walk on eggshells with the penalty in mind

The few weeks were primarily about the possible breach of the cost cap by Red Bull and what the penalty will be if that was proven correct. Now that the matter has been decided and penalties imposed, the team is planning for 2023 with the restrictions in mind.

Helmut Marko spoke to Sky Deutschland, “The penalty is tough, but it’s just about the limit where we believe we can be competitive in the years to come despite the restrictions.”

“It’s an enormous competitive disadvantage. We can’t miss a shot. What we take into the wind tunnel has to fit. We can’t afford to make any mistakes.” (Translated via Google)

For the unaware – the team was found to be in breach of the limits by $2.2 million. Resultantly, they have been penalized $7 million and have had restrictions imposed on their aerodynamic wind tunnel testing. While the monetary damages won’t be of too much consequence, the sporting penalty could turn out to be huge.

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The team has shown their dedication and determination to come out of adverse circumstances. It is going to be tough to tackle the restrictions but it might serve as added motivation to do better and defend their title for the 2nd year in a row.