Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché does not rule out a further replacement of the concept within the team, which will prove even faster than this year’s RB20.
Red Bull surprised everyone when they launched this year’s car for the first time and it looked visibly different to last season’s conquering RB19, but it looks just as competitive as its predecessor.
Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey has downplayed the tweaks made between this season and last, calling the RB20 a “third evolution” of the 2022 RB18 ahead of its launch, before the differences were obvious on the outside of the car.
However, in praising the existing car, Waché explained what the Red Bull team has been doing to turn the 2024 car into another race winner, with Max Verstappen winning two of the first three rounds of the season.
“Our aero team did a job,” Waché told RacingNews365.
“They have evolved the new package in such a way that in the end there is more freedom to further expand the car as a component of the existing concept.
“That’s why we don’t consider the existing concept to be the final version, but we have created new possibilities for development.
“Also, it’s fantastic to see that everything works well with this concept and that the correlation between the simulations and the track also matches exactly. “
But with strong regulations in place for this year and next, ahead of the big restart of Formula 1’s technical regulations in 2026, the consensus within the paddock turns out to be that cars introduced in 2024 would have a significant handover for next season as resources. They are invested in getting off to a good start by 2026.
That said, Waché explained that Red Bull is keeping its eyes open to the opportunity for a new concept to emerge.
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“Even if the rules are the same this year and next, that doesn’t mean we can’t start again next year with another concept,” Waché said.
“It all depends on what we find in the studies for the creation of the new car. If we see that some other concept will give us a big advantage, then we’ll move on to that other concept. “
“Looking back at last year, we knew at the time that there would be two seasons in the existing regulations. Because of that, we also knew that if the concept didn’t work, we still had time to fix things. So we could be taking a risk.
“The herbal procedure is for you to continue on the basis of the existing concept, but it is excluded that you move to a new concept.
“You have to be open-minded at all times. To stand still is to return to this world. That’s why we want to stay to improve tactics. “
“After all, it’s what you discover that gives you the edge. “
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