Has Red Bull made a mistake with the RB20?
Stopping short of declaring Red Bull made a mistake by scrapping their RB19’s concept for the all-new RB20, Jack Plooij feels they reacted to rivals getting closer and ran the “risk” of going in the wrong direction.
Upon arrival in Monaco for round eight of the 2024 F1 World Championship, Red Bull was burdened with the disappointment of losing two Grands Prix this season, which doubled their previous year’s record.
Concerns raised about Red Bull’s RB20 concept
After Max Verstappen had to retire due to a brake fire, Carlos Sainz emerged as the winner in Australia. However, in the Miami Grand Prix, Lando Norris achieved victory over Verstappen purely based on his skills. In the following race at Imola, Norris almost secured another win, finishing only 0.725s behind Verstappen at the finish line.
Ziggo Sports’ Plooij is questioning whether Red Bull made a mistake with their brand-new RB20.
Although the RB19 was arguably the most dominant car in Formula 1 history, carrying the team to 21 of 22 Grands Prix victories, the championship double and the 1-2 in the Drivers’ standings, Red Bull dropped that concept in favour of a more Mercedes-esque design.
This year’s car featured minimal sidepods, inspired by Mercedes’ zero-pod concept, and the Brackley team’s shark fin engine cover was also adopted. However, both ideas were discarded by Mercedes as they did not deliver the expected lap time.
Despite Red Bull’s early success with three 1-2 finishes in the first four races of the season, their difficulties in Monaco have raised concerns. Verstappen believes that these issues cannot be resolved through a mere set-up change, leading Plooij to question if the team has made an error.
The Dutch pundit on Ziggo Sport’s Race Café expressed, “As other teams were making progress with upgrades, someone suggested that we must strive for even greater improvement. How can we enhance the already exceptional car?”
There is a potential danger of heading in the incorrect direction.
Crunching the data after Friday’s practice in Monaco
Uncovered: Monaco GP practice data reveals where Ferrari hold the early edge over Red Bull
Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso data: Could two legends shake up Monaco pecking order?
‘Charles Leclerc was Max Verstappen in the Ferrari’
In the meantime, McLaren has made significant strides by embracing the Red Bull RB19 concept last season and further enhancing it with the development of the MCL38 for this year. As a result, McLaren has narrowed the gap and is now closely trailing behind Red Bull.
Ferrari, who also took a step closer to the Red Bull design, set the pace in Monaco’s practice where Charles Leclerc was P1 with a 1:11.278.
On Friday, Verstappen’s speed was only fourth, trailing the Ferrari driver by over half a second.
According to Plooij, McLaren’s recent move is commendable. They have added talented individuals to their team, who were already performing well. Although we didn’t witness Oscar Piastri on Friday, he will also participate in the qualifying session.
He further commented that the rest of the competitors are becoming more powerful, and Verstappen is greatly disheartened by the car’s malfunction.
Leclerc demonstrated his exceptional driving skills by consistently achieving purple lap times. I personally witnessed Max Verstappen behind the wheel of the Ferrari.
Read next: Jenson Button makes Monaco GP observation with Max Verstappen pole streak at risk
