Red Bull are expected to use older components of the RB20 to identify their root issues
For a team renowned for their strong mid-season development, Red Bull have plummeted in dramatic fashion this year. Upgrades have failed to improve the RB20, with Max Verstappen’s complaints about the car largely unchanged. In a bid to correct these issues, Red Bull will begin retracing their steps.
With this generation of cars, most teams have seen at least some upgrades fail to produce the desired impact.
Aston Martin are the most obvious example of a team whose development went off the rails. However, even Ferrari and Mercedes have spent months trying to fix the unexpected consequences of their upgrades.
Because of this, it is not unusual for Red Bull – like any team – to experience a hiccup in their development. Unfortunately for Christian Horner’s team, there is no big update package on the way to fix the issues.
Unlike Ferrari, who have addressed the problems from the Spain update package, Red Bull’s issues have persisted throughout 2024.
Upgrades have been ineffective, with the team’s most recent modifications in Hungary having no impact. To try and reverse this alarming trend, the defending Champions are resorting to a new approach.
Different RB20 specifications to be used
Until they can produce updates that actually deliver, Red Bull will experiment with older specifications of the RB20. They already tried this at the Dutch GP, when Max Verstappen ran an old floor.
Although Christian Horner admitted this experiment did little to improve lap time, they will continue testing different components for the foreseeable future.
Helmut Marko has explained that Red Bull’s best chance is to go backwards and identify where the RB20’s decline began. In short, they want to re-establish a consistent baseline that can give Verstappen and Perez a consistent balance.
From this foundation, the team’s hope is to bring improvements that bring both performance and aerodynamic stability. Ultimately, this strategy is an admission that Red Bull’s trajectory for the future is unclear.
Then again, even McLaren are holding back on some upgrades to avoid any unexpected consequences. Therefore, at least for now, the top teams will focus on optimising their existing packages.
