As 2025 approaches, Red Bull needs to correct the flaws of the RB20. Pierre Waché outlined the issues with Milton Keynes’ latest car. After a season of absolute dominance and a championship start in line with paddock expectations, the RB20 experienced a sharp decline in performance. Fixing the car’s shortcomings will be crucial for the upcoming year.
Red Bull’s trajectory was one of the biggest surprises of last season. The Milton Keynes team, initially seen as the favorite, proved more fragile than predicted. The RB20 was quickly caught by its rivals, who, from the summer onwards, left little room for the reigning champions. The early-season advantage was enough for Max Verstappen to secure his fourth title, but the Constructors’ Championship went to McLaren.
As early as Monaco, the correlation problems between the simulator and the track seemed evident. In particular, the car struggled on uneven tracks, especially those with bumps and high curbs. These issues were never truly resolved throughout the year, and only the Dutch champion managed to mitigate them. Heading into 2025, Milton Keynes must step up: rivals, particularly McLaren and Ferrari, pose a serious threat.
Red Bull, Waché: “Correlation problems, also lost downforce”
In an interview with Autosport, the Technical Director from Milton Keynes didn’t shy away from acknowledging the team’s difficulties: “The season was as challenging as we expected. I’d say we were surprised initially by the gap we had. We expected the whole season to be like the end of the championship—a fierce battle with the others.”
“There are several aspects to this story. The first is correlation, meaning that the car had different characteristics than we expected in terms of aerodynamics. Another aspect is that we didn’t anticipate how much certain elements would impact the car’s performance. They weren’t there intentionally, but perhaps we didn’t focus enough on them.”
“These elements were still present at the end of the season, and we need to address them for 2025. We lost downforce in certain areas, and on the track, we didn’t achieve the performance we expected based on the wind tunnel. It’s a correlation issue, and in terms of on-track performance, it was primarily a balance problem.”
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