Red Bull’s dominant performance last season has raised expectations for the upcoming season. However, as F1 enters its third season with the current ground-effect cars, Red Bull’s aerodynamic expert Adrian Newey has voiced concerns. Newey believes that evolving the RB18 (the 2022 car) model in a fiercely competitive environment could potentially create tension for the team.
Appearing on the Talking Bull podcast, Newey discussed Red Bull’s conservative approach to developing the RB20. He highlighted how budget constraints have limited their exploration of various avenues. Consequently, Red Bull has opted to develop the car with the resources at hand.
However, even though the third-generation automobile followed the RB18 model’s evolutionary route, Newey has voiced doubts about whether the careful strategy used by them is too conservative. He said, “This year’s car is the third evolution of that original RB18. Now, what we don’t know, of course, is [whether] the third evolution is too conservative while others have done something different. “
As he wrapped up, Newey mentioned his expectation for the grid to tighten in the second year of ground regulations. However, he felt ‘completely surprised’ when other teams failed to narrow the gap as he had anticipated.
What kind of performance does Adrian Newey anticipate from other teams in 2023?
Red Bull secured victory in 10 out of the last 11 races in 2022 and continued to strengthen its lead in the following year. In 2023, Red Bull triumphed in 21 out of 22 races. Considering this, Adrian Newey expressed surprise that other teams surrendered so readily. This is because he expected that other teams would have better understood and adapted to the new regulations by the second season.
Nonetheless, it remained evident that Verstappen and his team were leaving their competitors far behind. Often with a lead of more than 20 seconds in the majority of races. This became possible because Red Bull implemented only a few updates and primarily built upon their 2022 concept when developing the 2023 car.
Newey elaborated on this, “So last year’s car was an evolution of the ’22 in the main points being the normal winter development in terms of aerodynamics. Some understanding of what we need to do with the suspension to try to improve the car as well and getting weight out of it because we never got down to the weight limits in ’22.”
This subtle evolution was the primary factor behind the Milton Keynes team’s continued dominance. Interestingly, the design of the RB19 will inspire many other teams. Hence, it’s anticipated that teams will be better prepared to challenge Red Bull in 2024.
However, Red Bull boasts a strong lineup featuring Verstappen, Newey, Perez, and Horner. Therefore, without significant rule changes, many predict that Red Bull will maintain their impressive streak in the upcoming season.
