When the Red Bull RB20 made its debut at the start of last year, it seemed destined to dominate the season. Max Verstappen won seven of the first ten races, demonstrating the car’s clear superiority. On several occasions, his dominance was overwhelming, but the situation changed in the sixth round in Miami, when Lando Norris secured his first victory. This was a clear signal: McLaren was closing the development gap.
After Verstappen’s seventh victory of the season in Spain, Red Bull entered a challenging phase: for ten consecutive races, they failed to win. Attempts to improve the RB20 led to balance issues, making the car harder to handle.
Newey’s departure and Red Bull’s decline
Last May, Adrian Newey announced his departure as Red Bull’s Technical Director, effectively stepping away from Formula 1. Reflecting on the team’s struggles, he told Auto Motor und Sport: “From what I could see, the ’24 car and even in the late stages of ’23, I’d say, it was starting to become more difficult to drive.”
He further highlighted a key point: “From what I can see from the outside, but I don’t know, the Red Bull guys – and this is not a criticism – I think, perhaps due to a lack of experience, kept going in the same direction.” His analysis suggests that the team insisted on a development path that, instead of improving the car, made it more unstable.
Horner responds to criticism
During the launch of F1 75, Christian Horner responded to Newey’s statements. When asked by the media, including Motorsport Week, he said: “I’m not sure—I haven’t seen those comments, but I think the issues run deeper than last year.”
According to Red Bull’s Team Principal, the RB20’s difficulties were not due to the engineers’ inexperience but to more fundamental problems. Horner praised the team’s efforts in tackling these challenges:
“When you analyze the data carefully and some of the characteristics, you start to see them much earlier, certainly during 2023,” he explained. “It was about untangling the web to understand which factors contributed to such an outstanding performance. I think that’s where the team worked hard to comprehend and address the issue.”
Is the RB21 the solution to the problems?
When asked how Red Bull addressed the RB20’s issues with the new RB21, Horner simply replied: “I’ll tell you next Friday,” referring to the pre-season tests in Bahrain.
“The team worked hard over the winter to correct some of the RB20’s flaws. We had a good winter, and next week we will get our first feedback on how we’ve solved certain problems. We managed to improve at the end of last season, and we’ll see if we’ve taken another step forward in the opening races of this year.”
Signs of recovery in the second half of the season
Despite a difficult period, some positive signs emerged in the latter part of last season. Verstappen’s victory in Austin and his remarkable comeback from 17th place in the first leg of the São Paulo GP indicated that Red Bull had found solutions.
Further confirmation came with the victory at the Qatar GP, made possible by simulator tests and setup adjustments. It now remains to be seen whether the RB20, powerful but difficult to manage, has been transformed into a more flexible and competitive RB21. The first tests in Bahrain will be crucial in answering this question.
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