Red Bull has complete domination on the grid with their exceptionally fast car in the cost-cap era. In these circumstances, Mercedes might need Red Bull to perform a little worse if they want to end their losing streak. Anyhow, the Austrian team is not looking to dumb down their level of performance anytime soon.
They have sealed the 2023 championship already. Now, they are looking to continue their hegemony to the next year as well. It is not good news for the rivals as they have already changed the direction of their development process due to Red Bull’s utter dominance since last year. But the question remains: how significant changes will Red Bull make to RB20?
Christian Horner Revealed His Team Had Started Developing RB20 Halfway Through To The Current Season
Red Bull’s boss mentioned they had turned their attention to the next year’s car a while ago. Hence, they are already ahead of the chasing pack, trying to catch up with them in 2024, even before the 2023 season ends. Christian Horner believes the biggest threat to Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s supremacy keeps changing behind them. But Horner mentioned they haven’t really added any or a little performance to the car since the summer break. As per Horner, Red Bull decided to use the wind tunnel restrictions on the RB20 car instead of continuing the development of RB19. Moreover, Christian Horner noted that they’ll keep learning from what they’re doing at present and will apply to the next year’s car.
But more importantly, the boss believes Red Bull has managed to maintain consistency at a variety of circuits. Anyway, the Red Bull’s boss has always been saying that they’ll shift their focus on the next year’s car since the Hungarian Grand Prix. Moreover, in the second half of the current season, they’ve already sunk decent resources into 2024. Perhaps due to the penalty for breaching the cost cap in 2021, the Austrian team has not been able to show the full impact of their car. But a good start to the season allowed Red Bull to apply most of the development time to the next year’s car. Horner thinks the good start to the season was pretty important.
Ferrari And Mercedes Have A Lot To Figure Out About How To Catch Up With Red Bull
No other team has managed to build such a fast car in the new era. Especially the rivals like Mercedes and Ferrari have really struggled to catch up with the Austrian team. They don’t have a car as fast and strong as the RB19. Ferrari had a better experience than Mercedes in the last two years. The Italian team won four races last season. And they have been the only non-Red Bull team to win a Grand Prix this year so far. But this stat proves how dominating the Red Bull team has been since last year.
They’ve won back-to-back constructor titles. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has been a triple-time champion since 2021. Red Bull and Max Verstappen ended the dominating era of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Anyway, the Silver Arrows have been struggling with the development of their car. Last season, the Mercedes W13 car had a terrible porpoising issue. This season, they have reduced the bouncing problem, but the W14 car has been through too many upgrades. However, the German team has still been winless.
