Red Bull have completely obliterated their opposition this season and haven’t given them a single opportunity to win. The Milton Keynes outfit have won all 12 races of the season so far with their rivals trying their best not to fall behind any further by bringing in upgrades. Now, Red Bull have finally decided to give their rivals an opportunity to catch up.
Behind the untouchable Red Bull, teams like Mercedes, McLaren, and Aston Martin have been fighting it out, trying to bridge the gap with the reigning champions. Aston Martin started off the season on a high with Fernando Alonso becoming a regular face on the podium, only for the team’s performance to fall off towards the end of the first half of the season.
🚨 Mercedes believe Red Bull opened up “another advantage” with latest Hungarian GP upgrades
Toto Wolff: “I think with the last step of upgrade, it seems they [Red Bull] have another advantage that they were able to exploit.”
“It is what it is and I often say that it’s a… pic.twitter.com/Nu0HebKetA
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) August 4, 2023
As for McLaren, the Woking-based outfit saw a sudden resurgence in their form after having a dreadful start to the season. After some major updates to the car, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are now fighting for podiums, but it still hasn’t been enough to reach Red Bull’s level.
Mercedes on the other hand have slowly built up their developments. After being stuck in the midfield during the start of the season, the Silver Arrows have finally managed to get the car near the top, with Hamilton taking pole position during the Hungarian GP.
Red Bull can finally be beaten?
Red Bull have finally thrown the ball in their rival’s court and given them the opportunity to close down the gap. This is because the team have decided to stop focusing on developing their 2023 car and instead move their attention to next year’s challenger.
Following the Belgian GP, team principal Christian Horner spoke to Sky Sports F1 and revealed that the team does not have plans of bringing any more upgrades after the summer break. He said, “There will be some circuit specific bits and pieces, but we’ve got six months to come up with another one.”
If a relatively ‘small’ upgrade like at Hungary opened up such a big gap between Redbull and the chasing pack, imagine what the RB20 Adrian Newey is cooking for next season will do….😅😅#redbullf1 #redbullracing pic.twitter.com/JFp8zLOzYS
— Nedu2010 (@Nedu2010) August 4, 2023
Horner explained that the wind tunnel penalty they received because of breaching the cost cap in 2021 has kicked in recently. This is why they are having to be selective with their resources and have decided to shift their focus completely.
Red Bull’s dream might be in danger
Added to all of this, Red Bull might also be affected by a possible rule change that the FIA might bring about soon. According to a report by Mirror, F1 might rule out the use of DRS in qualifying.
⚠️ | According to AMuS, F1 is reportedly considering banning DRS in qualifying, so it can only be used during the race.
If put into place, this change would most severely impact the team with the most effective DRS, which as of now is Red Bull (with DRS a maximum top speed of… pic.twitter.com/31eejtfyFe
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) August 8, 2023
One of the major factors that have contributed to Red Bull’s dominance has been their super-effective DRS. If this advantage is taken away, the rival teams might have an even bigger opportunity to catch up and deny Red Bull their dream of going through the whole season undefeated.
