Red Bull has brought only a few upgrades to the RB20 as of yet in the 2024 season. However, this is detrimental to their competitive advantage as its rivals Ferrari and McLaren have taken massive steps forward in closing the gap. Having lost two races already so far, the Austrian team is admitting to being under pressure.
According to The Race, the team’s technical director, Pierre Wache, addressed how the upgrades they have brought to the track so far are very subtle. He stated, “The visibility of the upgrade is maybe not as apparent from the outside”.
Contrasting this to what McLaren have done with the MCL38, it explains why Lando Norris was so competitive in Miami and Imola. The British driver matched Max Verstappen’s pace and went on to win the race in Miami. Even in Imola, Norris fell short by only 0.7 seconds on what could have been his and McLaren’s second consecutive win in 2024.
Even Verstappen understands that Red Bull don’t have the dominant advantage like last year and thus he has to work hard to win races, rather than cruise to the chequered flag. In Imola, the Austrian team brought subtle upgrades to its floor, the front wing, and the nose of the RB20.
Besides these, there were minor updates to the rear suspension fairings and brake duct veins, as reported by The Race. So, if Red Bull wish to maintain their advantage as the champion team in the pecking order, they will have to step up their development relative to their counterparts at Woking and Maranello.
Red Bull’s struggles relative to Ferrari and McLaren continue in Monaco
The 2024 Monaco GP has not been kind to Red Bull‘s RB20 so far. During all of the free practice sessions, both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have been struggling to extract a good lap time around the Circuit de Monaco.
While Red Bull have a great record around the streets of the Principality, the 2024 Grand Prix weekend may require a lot out of them if Verstappen aims to take his third win in the last four Monaco GP races.
However, the Dutchman seems quite tentative as he expressed his frustration about Red Bull’s struggles in Monaco. Verstappen mentioned how the car has been bouncing “like a kangaroo” on team radio and also elaborated on the issues to the media.
TRACK ⚔️ DOMINATION
Leclerc Verstappen in FP3 #F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/RmXeJBxYNu
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 25, 2024
According to Formula1.com, he stated how the bumps and kerbs at the Monaco track are making them “lose a lot of lap time, just because the car doesn’t ride it well.” While Verstappen put the second fastest time in FP3 on Saturday morning, he is not hopeful that their issues will go away to give them a smooth ride over the 78-lap race on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Ferrari have been ruling the timesheets with Charles Leclerc setting the benchmark so far. There has been a lot of anticipation around Leclerc’s home race and how he could break his curse by finally stepping on the podium this weekend.
McLaren are also doing a decent job but are yet to show their true hand before qualifying. However, given the way they unleashed their pace when it mattered in the past two race weekends, Red Bull needs to be wary of the Woking team too.
