Alpine’s top car design chief has admitted Red Bull’s rivals cannot hope to beat the Formula 1 champions by copying their all-conquering RB19 car.
He won as many as one of the 22 races held last year and would have had a blank slate had it not been for a rare weekend in Singapore. Max Verstappen thoroughly enjoyed driving it, winning 19 of those races and breaking new F1 records. towards his third title.
When a car is obviously impressive to its competitors, it can be tempting for teams to follow the lead of the dominant car. And there will no doubt be some elements of the Red Bull RB19 that teams from top to bottom of the grid will incorporate into their 2024 designs.
But Alpine technical director Matt Harman has admitted that copying what Red Bull has already done is not the right way to beat them. He admitted, however, that he spent a lot of time on what drives the RB19.
He said: “We think they’ve given it to us very well. We think we sense what they’re doing. You can’t snap your hands and believe it overnight. We sense our direction. But I think we’ve also discovered some things. ” of the other cars on the grid as well.
“There are also other big cars that have had some attractive developments. And it’s about perceiving what you’re doing, what they’re doing. Ultimately, if we stick to just those people, we can never be in front. “I think it’s a genuine mantra for us that we have to be inspired by those people, but we have to go our own way.
Even if other teams do successfully unlock the potential of the RB19 in their own designs for the 2024 season, they will still be a year behind Red Bull. The defending champions were able to get to work on the RB20 much earlier than their rivals could switch focus, thanks to their dominance in the championship.
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However, there will be examples of the RB19’s influence on the newly created S for the next campaign. It has already been reported in Italy that the new Ferrari will feature a front spoiler whose design is reminiscent of that of the outgoing Red Bull.
Whatever the groups have done with their 2024 cars, it is even more vital that they are competitive. This is because those machines will necessarily be the same as those used for the following season, as they pool their resources into the build cars for the 2026 regulation changes.
“If we create a car that other people see now, by 2025 it will be very obsolete,” Harman added. “It’s vital that we are encouraged through what we see. But we have to aim much further than that, give that two-year horizon ourselves. “
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