(Motorsports news) With the exception of one grand prix, the Milton Keynes-based team has been unbeatable in 2023, winning both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles. Red Bull’s current RB19 still outperforms all others in terms of performance, but the fact that rivals like McLaren are outperforming it indicates that the field is narrowing. Furthermore, Red Bull is aware that it cannot become complacent when it comes to making minor tweaks to its 2023 rival ahead of a winter in which teams like Mercedes and Ferrari are anticipated to make significant alterations to their cars.
Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan has stated that the team needs to make improvements if it is to hold off the competition, even though it won’t make a drastic change to the 2024 car’s design. “It would be wrong of us to just leave it alone because our opposition is getting a bit closer,” he stated. “However, in contrast to prior years and car generations, when we were able to do a little bit more and rearrange things, the regulations are rather strict now.
Perhaps you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you that the 2024 car will be an improvement over the current model, as it would be absurd to toss this concept out of the window. Nonetheless, we must advance in some way. We need to get some lap time in. Since we have the opposition on our side, we had better take a bigger step if they do. “But it [the RB20] carries over a lot of the lessons and benefits of the current car, and then from Bahrain next year, we’ll see whether we’ve done a good enough job.”
Red Bull will benefit from having more wind tunnel time for its 2024 car design than it did for the RB19. A 10% decrease in wind tunnel and CFD running was imposed on the squad last year as a penalty for exceeding the cost cap in 2021. Now, the penalty has expired. Monaghan has mirrored the opinions of other team members, stating that the constraints it encountered the previous year made it extremely efficient in its work, which will be very helpful even with more running.
“It forced us to look again at the efficiency with which we do tests in the wind tunnel environment and in CFD,” he stated. We made a few minor adjustments as a result of the fact that, despite everyone’s limitations, everyone strives for efficiency. “I don’t think they will be revolutionary, but any of those refinements we will keep as our benefit because, as we get a few more morsels of testing, then we use those morsels more efficiently.”
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