Red Bull’s 2023 car goes down as the most dominant in Formula 1 history and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton again has the unenviable task of chasing it down next year
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed they have been busy developing next year’s Formula 1 car since the midpoint of this year – despite Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claiming their rivals had not touched their car since the summer such was their success.
Horner, 50, has seen Max Verstappen win all but one race this year. The only exception was the Singapore Grand Prix, when, after qualifying in 11th and failing to reach the final session, the world champion could only recover to fifth place on race day.
That followed the team’s decision to forego starting him and teammate Sergio Perez during the early safety car window. After being passed by Hamilton, his teammate George Russell, and Lando Norris of McLaren, they soon entered the pits due to their struggles on their older hard tires at the restart.
Red Bull, on the other hand, responded by winning the final seven grand prix after winning the previous 14 races prior to competing around the Marina Bay Street Circuit. With Verstappen and Perez leading the Drivers’ Championship standings, they would thus win back the Constructors’ Championship handily.
After the final race in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton, who finished third, 51 points behind Perez, expressed his concerns for the upcoming season. When Sky Sports asked him about the upcoming year, he said, “I’m not really sure right now.
“They haven’t touched the car since August, and Red Bull won by a margin of 17 seconds. Therefore, you can pretty much predict where they will be in the upcoming year. “[Red Bull] haven’t even developed their car since August,” Hamilton continued. It is unquestionably concerning.
His tone was not particularly upbeat when it came to Mercedes’ chances of catching up to Red Bull in 2024. We now know a great deal about the vehicle, so it’s all up to the team. They are aware of what must be done. We’ll see whether we make it there or not,” he continued.
During the final race weekend of the season, Horner confirmed Hamilton’s worries in an interview with “Motor Sport.” “Thank goodness we had a solid foundation from which to work, as it would have seriously jeopardized our ability to develop RB20 if we had used up all of the wind tunnel we had for RB19 development.
However, we were able to apply the limited resources we had to RB20 reasonably early for us, while spinning both plates, because we had a great start with ’19. Because of this, since the middle of the year, development on this car has been extremely stingy.
“The car for next year is an advancement. Naturally, diminishing returns begin to occur. However, the team has performed admirably this year, as you may know. In Formula One history, this is the most successful car ever. And for that, they should all feel incredibly proud.
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