Red Bull surprises with concept change on RB20
Red Bull has become the final Formula 1 team to launch its 2024 car, saying it has been brave in choosing to change concept with the RB20 despite last year’s dominant season.
The RB19 was an evolution of the previous year’s championship winner and duly went on to become the most dominant car in Formula 1 history, winning all but one of the 23 races, with Max Verstappen alone picking up 19 victories. Amid those results, the car was beaten on a number of occasions in qualifying and Red Bull has opted to update its concept.
While the all-important floor naturally remains unseen, the engine cover features a Mercedes-style approach while team principal Christian Horner says there are some significant innovations included.
“It’s not tactical, it’s based on performance and what we’re seeing through our simulation tools,” Horner said. “Obviously the car looks quite visibly different in certain areas to last year. Only the stopwatch will tell but in the virtual world we wouldn’t have committed it to design if we didn’t feel it was better.
“It’s marginal gains in all areas, so you’re constantly looking to try and evolve. If you look at the detail on the car there’s some really exquisite detail. And I think the team… there’s been no complacency. They’ve continued to evolve, to push the boundaries.
“It’s marginal gains in all areas, so you’re constantly looking to try and evolve. If you look at the detail on the car there’s some really exquisite detail. And I think the team… there’s been no complacency. They’ve continued to evolve, to push the boundaries.
“I think there’s some great innovation on the car as well, which will no doubt get scrutinized over the coming weeks. Creativity has been strong in the team and you can see that in some of the solutions that they’ve come up with. It’s not a conservative evolution — there’s some great innovation on this car.”
Max Verstappen says he was surprised when he first saw the 2024 concept but has full faith in Red Bull’s approach.
Max Verstappen says he was surprised when he first saw the 2024 concept but has full faith in Red Bull’s approach.
“I’m quite happy with the direction that they chose,” Verstappen said. “I saw the drawings I think in Abu Dhabi, the last race, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s quite different in a way.’ They’ve not been conservative, let’s say it like that. I think what I like about the team is that we had a great package, but they took the chance to really go all out and try to make it better.
“Of course, time will tell if it’s really, really good. From what I see within the team, everyone is just happy with what they have achieved in the winter. But then again, we don’t know. We can’t control what the other people did.
“I think it’s controlled aggressiveness. It doesn’t seem like it’s a question mark of what they’ve done, like, they’re not entirely sure.”
Perez believes the changes are a sign of how much Red Bull wants to maintain the recent advantage it has had.
“It just shows the hunger that we have,” Perez said. “We have such a dominant car last year that you wouldn’t expect us to change the concept that much, you know? I think it is really brave from Red Bull to do. It just shows how much this team is looking to move forward and push all the boundaries.”
For more information: www.racer.com
For more information: www.racer.com
