F1 rivals against ‘artificial’ methods to catch Red Bull

Ferrari and McLaren have expressed their desire to catch Red Bull by their own means and not through the implementation of “artificial” regulations.

Red Bull is enjoying a dominant campaign, winning all 13 Grands Prix staged so far with Max Verstappen has enjoyed a bulk of that success, prevailing at 11 of the races.

The Dutchman's run to what is almost guaranteed to be a third Drivers' title in succession has included winning the last nine races, matching the consecutive win record set by Sebastian Vettel and Alberto Ascari, whilst Red Bull has also set a new record for the most wins in a row for a team - staking a claim for the most dominant campaign in F1 history.

No artificial rules

With its large gap over the rest of the competition, Red Bull’s F1 rivals have had little success to cheer about this year.

In other categories, most notably in the World Endurance Championship, a Balance of Performance is implemented race-by-race to achieve a more level playing field.

But speaking to media including RacingNews365.com, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur said: “I’m not a big fan of a Balance of Performance or any kind of artificial [intervention] like this, that it's not the DNA at all Formula 1.

“On top of that, we have already the wind tunnel allocation with a kind of balance. Not balance of performance but better balance allocation, and it's enough.”

Vasseur was referring to the sliding scale aerodynamic testing regulations brought in to help the grid play on a level field and aligning with the Frenchman, McLaren counterpart Andrea Stella added: “We don't want to have any help.

"We want to close the gap by our own means.

“We like this challenge, and that's what we want for the next couple of years.”