Red Bull dominated F1 news with their excellence in 2023, but Christian Horner admits next season will be a new challenge.
With development in F1 so heavily restricted, starting off strongly is crucial. This is where Red Bull has excelled, with Adrian Newey and Pierre Wache establishing a strong foundation for these F1 regulations. Over the last two years, rivals have fought to try and recover.
Until now, the Austrian outfit has been largely unmatched. This is especially true after the technical directive of summer 2022, which was detrimental to Ferrari’s initially promising performance. Heading into next season, the question is who – if anyone – can compete with Christian Horner’s team.
Most F1 news outlets have speculated about whether McLaren, Ferrari or Mercedes can become challengers in 2024. Considering the RB19’s dominance, a significant step over winter will be necessary to bridge the gap.
However, another factor that must be considered is how much more performance Red Bull can extract. After all, the Milton Keynes squad is not immune to mistakes. For many, a lack-lustre winter of development is seen as the best chance to fight the reigning Champions.
Speaking to the BBC, Christian Horner admitted that unlocking more speed in 2024 will be difficult:
“We have got up the [development] curve quicker than others, but we are seeing diminishing returns.
“And with the lack of wind tunnel time we’ve had, even though we transitioned early, we still had less time in practice than a great many of our opponents.
“So [we] have had to be very frugal and selective.”
These comments can be interpreted in many different ways. For some, Horner might be playing down expectations and trying to go under the radar. This is quite a common tactic in Formula 1, which at one stage was very commonly associated with Mercedes and Toto Wolff.
Pre-season talk doesn’t always translate to on-track performance, as teams have learned the hard way since 2022.
However, it must be said that still, Red Bull faces plenty of challenges. Although few will be sympathetic to the Austrian outfit after such a dominant campaign, staying at the top isn’t easy in F1.
As usual, pre-season testing will be the first indication of the winners and losers in F1’s development war.
