Red Bull continues improving the RB Defender as other teams play catch-up.
MILTON KEYNES, England—It would only seem fitting that the team that dominated the Formula 1 season for the last three years would be the last to launch their entry, the RB 20 Defender.
Red Bull Racing launched their newest and most daring car Thursday evening at their home base, and the big question is whether the team can duplicate (or even exceed) what it did in 2023. Last season, Max Verstappen, the current world champion, registered 19 race wins, and partner Sergio Perez added two more in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.
One roadblock is that other teams are attempting to replicate RB’s design. But Red Bull is not resting on its laurels and continues improving, including vertical sidepod inlets with conventional-looking sidepods with deep undercuts.
Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal: We can see that the RB19 has influenced rival cars and we’re expecting other teams to converge. I think the team has done an excellent job on the RB20, and you can see that they’ve pushed the boundaries with the car. Creativity has been strong in the team, and you can see that in some of the solutions they’ve come up with. It’s not a conservative evolution. There’s some great innovation on this car. We achieved 21 out of 22 last year, so technically, we can improve, but logically, there will be convergence with stable regulations.
Will Red Bull continue dominating the sport? If not, who will challenge? Those are two huge questions going into the 2024 season.
