Marko admits 'weight is a problem' for Red Bull's RB18

Helmut Marko says Red Bull Racing's new RB18 is overweight, an issue the Austrian hopes will be resolved by a late change to F1's minimum weight regulations for 2022.

Since the start of Formula 1's hybrid era in 2014, the FIA has steadily increased the minimum weight of Formula 1's cars. It now stands at 795kg excluding fuel.

But teams typically design their cars to be underweight and then add ballast to comply with the minimum weight requirement.

However, this year's wholesale changes - especially the introduction of 18-inch wheels – have led to significant challenges for each team's design department.

Marko reckons the majority of the teams' designs that were rolled out in Barcelona last week were overweight to a certain degree.

"The only problem we have is weight, but all teams have that," Marko told Motorsport-Magazin.com.

"Thank God the minimum weight has already been raised, but there is still a lot of work to do before the first race."

• Read also - Perez: Early days but RB18 has 'good baseline and potential'

Marko suggested that the FIA and F1 could tweak the minimum weight provision ahead of the start of the 2022 season next month in Bahrain.

But suc a course of action would require a vote from the members of the F1 Commission, with eight of F1's ten teams agreeing to raising the minimum threshold, an unlikely prospect given that several outfits may be content with their car's current load.

"All but one of the teams are struggling with the weight problem," contended Marko.

According to German's Auto Motor und Sport, Alfa Romeo F1's C42 is running lean while McLaren's MCL36 is also very near the minimum weight level.

Teams will resume their pre-season testing programmes on March 10 in Bahrain, where everyone will regroup for another three days of running.

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