'Rear of the RB15 is not correctly balanced. Explanation of the vibrations & source of rumours'

2019 sees a new era for Red Bull Racing as the team takes on a new engine supplier. After twelve seasons with Renault engines, this year the team is using Honda power units. The switch to Honda seems to have gone well so far, as everyone is optimistic and cheerful.

However, rumours have also come out that there are vibrations in the Honda engine which could prevent Red Bull Racing from going at full speed during testing. Marc Priestley revealed that he had heard from sources at Honda and Red Bull that there were too many vibrations in the Honda engine.

Explanation of the vibrations

The basis is that there should be vibrations in every engine, otherwise an engine is 'dead'. The question is how much vibration is present. There is always a certain strength in terms of vibrations and given the relationship between Honda with Toro Rosso in 2018, Red Bull Racing chief technical director Adrian Newey has had at least half a year with access to data and information.

If there are vibrations coming from the engine, it should be no surprise to Red Bull. If there is a problem at all, it's more to do with the strength, or weakness, of the RB15's chassis around the engine.

There is no issue having a vibration with the engine at low revs if it ticks over as the revs rise. The problems start when the engine is at high revs and there are still vibrations coming from the engine.

Source of rumours

Research was conducted this morning as GPToday.net called Marc Priestley to ask what exactly he heard and who the source is. The story Marc told in his video comes from a former Red Bull Racing team member who left at the end of last year, so he is no longer with the team and is also not in Barcelona.

A well established technical source in the paddock told GPToday.net: "The problem is not so much the engine but the complete rear. That is not yet in balance and therefore it doesn't run as they want at Red Bull Racing.

Red Bull Racing told us in a comment that it is 'not in the position to react to this information'.

/r/formula1 Thread Link - gptoday.net