Helmut Marko, Vettel, Horner and Max were yesterday in Salzburg for Servus TV. From this interview:
Marko reveals: RB18 was almost twenty kilograms too heavy, cost five tenths
The Red Bull RB18 was as much as twenty kilograms too heavy at the beginning of the Formula One season. This is revealed by Helmut Marko in the Formula 1 annual review of Austrian Servus TV. According to the Red Bull motorsports chief, ten kilograms equals about three tenths, so the overweight cost Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez five to six tenths per lap at the beginning of the year.
Dec 20, 2022 09:48
The RB18 can go into the books as one of the most successful F1 cars of all time. With Adrian Newey's battle weapon, Red Bull Racing managed to win no fewer than seventeen of 22 power races this year. Reliability was still an Achilles heel at the beginning of this year, as was weight. That Red Bull was above the FIA's minimum weight limit was already known, but after the end of the season Helmut Marko mentioned numbers about it for the first time.
"We went into the season with quite a lot of excess weight. Well, Max himself of course not, but the car did," Marko smiled at the two-time world champion next to him on the bench. "What you need to know: ten kilos overweight is equivalent to losing three tenths per lap. Our car was almost twenty kilos overweight. So internally we knew that we had an incredible reserve behind us, that there was a lot of margin to improve," Marko explained to Sporttalk im Hangar 7 of Servus TV.
The advantage of this disadvantage was that Red Bull had a very clear development direction. "If you try something in the wind tunnel, that's really trying it and you have no guarantee that something will work. But we just knew we could gain five tenths if we reduced the weight."
The latter gradually worked out and had a nice side effect for Max Verstappen. "Because the car became lighter, it started to fit Max's driving style better. He wants a sharp front end and slight oversteer. Not many drivers can drive with that, but for Max it's the optimum. We knew: if we give him a good car in terms of handling, he can outpace the competition. That also explains why the most convincing races came from Max . We scored almost no one-twos. Sergio did of course take two wins, but as the car gradually felt different, the car-driver combination [with Verstappen] has become tremendously strong. With the strategy, I think we also did well almost every race, or well, actually just every race. After Australia, we also had no more technical breakdowns, so everything fell right."
Marko thus emphasizes that 2022 has been the best year so far both from a team point of view and for Verstappen as an individual. "Max was faster this year than ever before. In doing so, he has become a tire whisperer. He saved his tires and drove tactically, but also immediately put them back on at times when it was needed. He has controlled the year, but as I said, with a good car and a very good team behind him. Because of that we have come to those convincing numbers this year.
Translated by DeepL.
Wishing everyone a very happy holidays 
