F1
A brave new world: Oracle Red Bull Racing unveiled their 2024 challenger, the RB20, and it's a radical evolution of the all-conquering RB19 that triumphed in 2023.
Oracle Red Bull Racing unveiled their new challenger, the RB20, in a live presentation from the team factory in Milton Keynes, England, featuring Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and team boss, Christian Horner, celebrating 20 years of F1 success.
The RB20 leads the charge for the defending world champions in the 2024 Formula 1 season. Three-time world champion Verstappen will be hoping that his rivals will become just as familiar with the sight of the RB20 vanishing into the distance as they were with last year's record-breaking RB19.
Hot on the heels of the most successful F1 car of all time, one that won 21 of 22 races last year, the team will be confident that Verstappen and Pérez will bring more silverware back to team HQ.
To celebrate 20 years since the team made their F1 debut, they were joined by the first Red Bull Racing driver, David Coulthard, who recalled scoring points for the team in their first-ever race in 2005 and the first podium with third at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.
Also joining the celebration was Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer and the most successful designer in F1 history, as well as technical director Pierre Waché.
01
Why are Oracle Red Bull Racing so strong?
Since the F1 rule change in 2022, Oracle Red Bull Racing have dominated the competition. The RB18 won 17 Grands Prix, scoring 28 podiums, and the RB19 podiumed 30 times. That's partly due to the return of ground-effect cars in 2022, which suits the car with the best aerodynamics package – a strength of the Oracle Red Bull Racing design team.
But that's only part of the picture: the team has also taken control of manufacturing its own engines, giving increased power, performance and reliability. Since Max Verstappen drove the RB17 to his first world title, it was already a winning team. The RB20 is expected to build on the success.
02
What does the car look like?
The RB20 was glimpsed in shakedown testing at Silverstone, England, last week, and was clad in much the same livery as the previous season's triumphant car. In terms of looks, it’s the Red Bull Racing blue, red and yellow design we’ve seen since 2015, with the team focussing on driving to greater success on track instead of messing with a classic. But if you miss some of the fantastic disruptive patterns of those test models, check out this gallery.
03
What about the design of the car – what's changed?
The word floating around is "aggressive", because the RB20 has a sharper nose and a slimmer profile overall. It's also quite a radical evolution of the RB19 by Newey, Waché and the team. Two long galleys extend down from the halo and new side pods, shaped to channel air around the car.
"It does look a bit different. I think the team definitely pushed on quite a bit from last year and I think that's very positive," said Max Verstappen. "I'm just looking forward to get to Bahrain, start testing and really see what the car is capable of."
"You can see they've been quite aggressive in certain areas and still push the boundaries," said Christian Horner. "Our opponents are still pushing very hard and I've seen a few cars that have been released that look similar in theme to what we launched with last year.
"You can see that all the men and women behind the scenes have been working very hard and some of the detail on the car is absolutely exquisite."
"I think it just shows the hunger in this team. We had such a dominant car last year, you wouldn't imagine us changing the concept so much. I think it's really brave from Oracle Red Bull Racing to do that,” added Sergio Pérez.
Speaking on the Talking Bull podcast, Adrian Newey seemed to suggest they could have gone much further.
"Last year's car was an evolution of '22 in its main points, being, of course, the normal winter development in terms of aerodynamics, some understanding on what we needed to do with suspension to try to improve the car and getting weight out of it, because we never got down to the weight limit in 2022.
"This year's car is the third evolution of that original RB18. Is the third evolution too conservative, while others have done something different? You just don't know."
04
What about under the covers?
Engine development has been frozen in F1 until 2025, so the car will use the RBPTH001 made by Red Bull Powertrains and Honda, and shared with sister team Visa Cash App Red Bull. Red Bull Powertrains are also now working in parallel with Ford on a long-term project to develop the next-gen hybrid engine for the 2026 season – but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
RB20 Technical Specification:
- Model name: Oracle Red Bull Racing – RB20
- Power Unit: Honda RBPTH002
- Gearbox: Eight-speed gearbox, longitudinally mounted with hydraulic power shift and clutch operation
- Fuel: Esso Synergy
- Oil: Mobil 1
- ERS: Red Bull Powertrains
- Brakes: Carbon-Carbon composite discs and pads
- Callipers: Brembo
- Rims: Wheel diameter: 18in, front and rear, BBS standard supply
05
Who will be its main rivals?
McLaren made a slow start to 2023, but ended the year as front runners. The team has a stable driver pairing in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and while many tip McLaren to have made up the most ground, they will need to hit the track running. Never rule out Ferrari. The Scuderia have made strong starts in the past two seasons, before fading, but they have a strong driver line-up in Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – with you-know-who waiting in the wings. Then there’s arch rivals Mercedes, who will start the season with an entirely new car concept and eager to get back to challenging for victories.
06
What else is new?
Verstappen and Pérez revealed their new helmets for the 2024 season. In F1, the driver's helmet is the opportunity for him to show off his character and come decorated with all sorts of personal design flourishes.
Verstappen, Pérez and the new RB20 will be on the track next week for pre-season testing in the race to the start line of the first Grand Prix in Bahrain on March 2.
Get ready for the start of the new F1 season with these great videos...
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Go inside the F1 factory in Faenza, Italy, as Scuderia AlphaTauri prepare for the first races of the 2020 F1 season at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. As well as the race to prepare the car and driver, the team must also deal with the challenge of doing this during a global pandemic.
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