If you ever find yourself among the Red Bull camp, just make sure you don’t say the word: Ferrari.
In late 2023, that’s the word that Red Bull members have nightmares about, as it was Ferrari who slammed the brakes on their unbeaten year.
Looking through the F1 results of 2023 makes for very repetitive reading, with Red Bull having won every race except the September clash in Singapore, where Ferrari pipped them to the finish line.
When it comes to the championship, however, Red Bull remain unbeaten since 2020. In their approach, their tactical prowess, their engine, and, of course, Max Verstappen, they are miles ahead of any of their competitors – sometimes literally.
But in the next season, which kicks off on 2nd March 2024, will Red Bull have the same firepower to make some more history?
Red Bull’s Advantage
While fans enjoyed the fierce battle between Ferrari and Red Bull – and are hoping for more fierce battles like that in 2024 – Red Bull have got started on the 2024 season with a big advantage.
The beginning of the 2023 season started, interestingly, as a disadvantage. Because Red Bull was so dominant in 2023, the team had less aerodynamic testing time compared to their rivals. This is because they were at the top of the ATR charts.
The ATR charts award more CFD and wind tunnel resources depending on how far down you are in the constructor’s championship, so, because Red Bull remained first place, they could not focus as much attention on the RB19 as they might have liked to.
As well as this, Red Bull was also working with the 10% reduction due to the cost-cap breach in 2021 – which started in late October 2022. But for any Ferrari or Mercedes fans thinking: great, that means they’re already behind the pack. Actually, that’s not the case.
The thing is, Red Bull have consistently been ahead of the pack, meaning they didn’t have to put a lot into improving the RB19 in the first place. All of the aerodynamic testing time noise was going on behind them while they were leading the tracks. In this way, the team decided to move further ahead and begin work on the RB20 – which is due to be unveiled in 2024. Even the loss in Singapore was a good thing, as they gained an even clearer understanding of where RB20 would require improvement.
The New And The Old
Shortly after the mid-season break, Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, suggested that Red Bull had already swung their focus to 2024. Since that break, there have been a few upgrades, bar some little tweaks depending on the circuits, such as the floor edges and rear wing endplate that were seen in Singapore.
With this in mind, Red Bull have the advantage of getting to work on a 2024 model before any of their competitors, who were desperately trying to fine-tune a car to beat them in 2023. That is not to say they will be unchallenged, however.
Mercedes and McLaren bosses have both stated that they are confident about the 2024 season, despite knowing that the gap is big – Hamilton even admitted Red Bull would be “an Everest to climb” next year.
Despite high tension between Leclerc and Ferrari, they should not be counted out either. Ferrari’s management of the Singapore race was second to none, and according to Charles Leclerc, the 2024 F1 car is very different to the 2023 challenger. They will have taken several learnings from the 2023 season, and they have an advantage compared to McLaren and Mercedes: they know how to beat Verstappen.
Many F1 teams are looking at 2024 as a new start, with a new car, and a new belief, but for Red Bull, they will be happy to stick with the old ways. We’ll all just have to wait and see what happens.