Red Bull has been the most dominant team in the last few years. Since Max Verstappen dethroned Lewis Hamilton in 2021, winning the Driver’s World Championship, things have turned around for the Austrian team. From 2022 to 2024, the Milton Keynes outfit has remained on top of the standings. Clearly, the design chief, Adrian Newey, and the engine partner, Honda, have been a great combination. They have mastered the process of building the most superior cars since 2022. RB18 was good, as it helped the team win 17 races in 2022. But RB19 was magnificent in terms of performance quality. There was no room for other teams to join in the competition as Red Bull went on to win 21 of 22 Grands Prix last year because of the superior RB19 car.
Other teams, like Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari, and Aston Martin, only tried to close the gap between their team and the dominant Austrian team. Moreover, the way things started in 2024, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finishing 1-2 in the first couple of races, it seemed like a possible repeat of 2023 was about to happen. However, during the current summer break, things look pretty competitive and exciting, as other teams have been closing the gap pretty well. But RBR is not giving up yet.
The Austrian Team’s Performance Drop Is A “Fantasy”
Lately, there have been reports of “An asymmetric braking system” that spread rumors about Red Bull’s sudden decrease in performance. Moreover, this system has been made illegal. Anyway, Mark Hughes of Motorsportmagazine.com wrote that somebody made “Unsubstantiated claims” regarding RBR’s performance drop. Albeit, there have been possible evidence that the top three teams have used the “Asymmetric braking system.” However, Hughes says there is also possiblity that none of the teams have used that technology, after assessing the evidence. Moreover, the F1 analyst said that somewhat an Italian-sourced story claimed Red Bull was using that system. But there is no substantial proof in support of that Italian-sourced story.
On top of that, the dates of its supposed use and when the authorities officially banned it did not align, says Hughes. Hence, this story is intriguing but suspicious at the same time. The F1 fans can’t stop but notice the flakiness of the Italian-sourced story. They don’t believe the story is gospel and a historical fact at present. Moreover, some of them have asserted that it is of course true. Otherwise, how can they justify the loss of Red Bull’s dominance in F1 post-China? Reports suggest that Red Bull removed the system during the Chinese GP. More clues are the surprising resurgence of McLaren and Mercedes since the Chinese GP. Suddenly, these two teams became competitive again, surprising, isn’t it?
Did Red Bull Lose Lap Time?
Mark Hughes wrote on Motorsport Magazine that Red Bull suddenly losing 0.5 seconds lap time post-China is “Total fantasy.” Obviously, the competitive advantage of the Milton Keynes outfit over McLaren and Mercedes has reduced a lot since what it was when the season began. But is it because the reigning champions have lost outright performance, or have the two other teams found performance? Hughes provided the lap time improvement difference of Red Bull:
Qualifying lap time improvement, ’23 to ’24 up to the Chinese GP – 0.825%
Qualifying lap time improvement, ’23 to ’24 post the Chinese GP – 0.933%
Clearly, it proves that there hasn’t been any significant difference. In fact, Red Bull’s lap time has been better post-China.
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