What’s gone wrong at Red Bull? RB20’s development path uncovered

Tracing Red Bull’s struggles

Red Bull’s dominance dates back to early 2022 when the FIA changed the regulations and introduced a new philosophy of generating downforce through ground effect. While other teams struggled with porpoising and various design issues, Red Bull was already several steps ahead.

Much of this success is owed to their then-lead design guru Adrian Newey, who had previous experience working with ground-effect cars. His knowledge allowed the team to foresee potential issues and design a car that didn’t suffer from them. This gave them an early advantage, as well as more time to focus on development and improvements.

Red Bull and Newey further capitalised on this advantage, creating the RB19 – arguably the most dominant car in Formula 1 history. No one would have predicted that just one season later, this team would find itself as the fourth-fastest on certain tracks.

At the start of the 2024 season, the RB20 was unveiled with innovative sidepod intakes, featuring the “overbite” design that many teams soon followed. As the season progressed, Red Bull’s rivals got closer in performance, with McLaren eventually surpassing them. The turning point was the Miami GP, where McLaren introduced the biggest upgrade of the season.

Despite Red Bull’s claims to the contrary, it is difficult to dismiss that the departure of Adrian Newey has played a role in the continued downturn. Newey wasn’t just a regular engineer – he had a deep understanding of drivers and could translate their feedback into technical changes. He also played a crucial role in adjusting the car’s balance, a part of the car where Red Bull is now struggling more than ever since the introduction of the new generation of cars.

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Red Bull’s failed upgrades

After Miami, Red Bull’s performance dominance officially vanished. Although Max Verstappen won several races after that, they had to work much harder for those victories. In Imola, Monaco and Canada, the RB20 struggled due to the pronounced kerbs at these circuits, which interfered with the car’s optimal ride height.

Ride height is one of the most critical factors in balancing and designing aerodynamic elements in today’s cars. Red Bull was known for using softer suspension, which allowed them to lower the car’s floor for more efficient aerodynamic performance. However, this also caused the front wing to generate significantly more downforce, potentially upsetting the car’s balance between the front and rear.

On bumpy tracks with high curbs, Red Bull’s softer suspension caused ride height issues, leading to underperformance of the car’s floor and a reduction in downforce.

Max managed to secure victories in Imola and Canada, the latter largely thanks to some good fortune, while in Spain, the flat nature of the circuit helped them avoid the ride height problems.

However, after Barcelona – which marks Max’s last win for now, Red Bull entered a rough period.

Mercedes had re-entered the competition, and the RB20’s balance issues became more pronounced. Weaknesses in slow and medium-speed corners grew more evident. The team even tested older floor versions in practice sessions, but with little success. In Hungary, Red Bull introduced a major upgrade package, hoping to resolve their problems.

They completely redesigned the engine cover and sidepod geometry. The main goal of these updates was to adapt to the high-downforce Hungaroring and improve the car’s balance.

By removing the “shoulders” of the car, more airflow reached the rear wing, generating additional downforce at high speeds. This aimed to balance the downforce generated by the front wing and improve stability. To make this effect as efficient as possible, the front wing was also redesigned.

But the upgrades didn’t show any notable improvement on the track – in fact, it seemed Red Bull became even worse, especially after the Monza race.

Monza was the team’s worst race so far. Max visibly extracted everything possible from the car but could only manage a P6 finish. The pace during both the race and qualifying was, to say the least, disappointing.

Red Bull made a questionable move by not designing a special rear wing for Monza, as some other teams did. Instead, they modified their low-downforce rear wing by trimming a large section of the DRS plate. This solution didn’t work well, resulting in poor top speeds throughout the weekend.

Does Max Verstappen’s driving style suit the RB20?

Max is a unique driver who prefers oversteer over understeer. This means he needs a car with a stable front end and excellent grip on the front tyres. This allows him to enter the corner much more aggressively and, with his skill, control the car’s rotation afterward.

With ground-effect cars and a softer suspension (which allows a lower ride height and activates the front wing), Red Bull had created a platform that gave Verstappen exactly what he needed to get the most out of the car. Of course, a driver of Max’s calibre can adapt to different conditions, but the results won’t be the same.

During the races in Zandvoort and Belgium, it was evident how much Max struggled in medium and high-speed corners, where the car simply didn’t respond to his inputs. Severe understeer, caused by poor balance, made things even more difficult for him. A driver can quickly lose confidence in the car under such conditions, making it hard to extract the maximum from it.

Meanwhile, McLaren is just eight points behind Red Bull and currently looks like the favourite to win the Constructors’ Championship. Ferrari, too, is within striking distance and could also challenge Red Bull if their struggles continue.