Sergio Perez from Mexico, driver for Red Bull Racing, showcased his RB20 car during the Bahrain Grand Prix Test Day on February 29, 2024, as part of the Formula 1 World Championship. Mercedes Technical Director James Allison expressed admiration for Red Bull’s innovative designs in their 2024 Formula 1 car. However, he refutes any comparisons to the team’s previous designs.
Since the reintroduction of ground-effect cars in 2022, Red Bull has dominated the competition, utilizing the sidepod downwash solution with great effectiveness. With only one race lost in the previous season, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner emphasized the importance of evolving their car to maintain their advantage. Surprisingly, Red Bull revealed the RB20 car with several radical revisions, which Horner described as a departure from conservative evolution.
One of the most notable design elements of the Red Bull car is the adoption of a vertical inlet in the sidepods, reminiscent of Mercedes’ abandoned concept called ‘zeropod’. Allison praises Red Bull for taking an aggressive approach with their latest car, acknowledging that the reigning champions could have chosen a more cautious path. He applauds their willingness to deviate from a simple iteration of the previous season.
In addition to the sidepod structure, the current Red Bull car has been compared to the previous season’s Mercedes car due to a deep groove in the engine cover. However, when asked if Mercedes feels validated by Red Bull adopting solutions previously conceived by them, Allison responded negatively. He believes that the external shape of the engine cover has little importance compared to what is underneath.
Allison confirms that Mercedes has successfully resolved the unpredictable characteristics of the rear end that plagued their previous car, the W14. However, he acknowledges that both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, as well as the entire Mercedes team, are currently in “chase mode” while Red Bull sets the standard in Formula 1. Despite this, Allison denies that Red Bull’s dominant form should discourage other teams, emphasizing that the season is long and there are opportunities to remain competitive in the coming years.
