Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is expecting to see several teams on the grid in 2024 with a car based on the side’s “RB19 philosophy” because of how successful it was.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit’s 2023 car was a piece of engineering genius, as proven by the fact that Carlos Sainz’s win at the Singapore Grand Prix was the only race last season not won by Red Bull.
Last season was dominated by Red Bull, who won 21 of the 22 races and cruised to a second consecutive Constructors’ Championship by a mammoth 451 points.
19 of the 21 victories were claimed by Max Verstappen, who was simply untouchable.
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With the exception of Singapore, the three-time World Champion just seemed in a league of his own at every circuit, thanks to how well he got on with the RB19.
Red Bull’s 2023 car just worked almost everywhere, whilst the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari struggled to perform consistently.
Mercedes even introduced a new concept mid-season, although that failed to significantly improve their performances, leading to another completely new design for 2024.
Several teams introduced upgrades during 2023 which replicated parts of Red Bull’s car, with Horner expecting most to take a step further in 2024 and copy their entire philosophy.
Because of this, the Red Bull boss believes the field will bunch up this year, as the Austrians have already “got to the top of the curve”.
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“I’m fully expecting – with stable regs and diminishing returns for us because I think we got to the top of the curve quicker than others – the field is going to converge,” Horner said, as reported by The Mirror.
“There’s always a reset as you go into the following year, and I’m convinced that you’ll see a lot more cars that perhaps look like an RB19 philosophy. If you stand still in this business, you tend to be going backwards. And I think that we have got up that curve quicker than others. But we’re into a law of diminishing returns.”
Horner’s prediction could well be absolutely spot on, with Italian outlet Formul1a.uno having reported that Ferrari’s 2024 challenger will feature a front wing with an outwash design, similar to the RB19.