Red Bull offers insight into development of 2025 car
12/30/2024 05:37 AM
As Red Bull aims to address the relative weaknesses of their 2024 car, Helmut Marko has offered key insights into the development of the team's upcoming RB21.
The 2024 F1 season was a tale of two halves for Red Bull. While Max Verstappen dominated the early races, winning seven of the first ten rounds of the championship, balance issues emerged that hindered the RB20's performance mid-season.
The car's Achilles' heel was its narrow performance window. It performed well under specific conditions but struggled to adapt to different tracks.
McLaren's MCL38, in contrast, performed consistently across various circuits, which allowed Lando Norris to emerge as Verstappen's primary rival in the championship.
A Wider Working Window
According to Marko, the lessons of 2024 have been taken to heart. The RB21 has been developed with a focus on creating a more versatile and predictable car, a task that is now nearing completion.
"I would say that the basic concept is ready," Marko explained in an interview with Sport1.de.
"The car is de facto finished and it is now going into final production. At that point you see how much weight can be saved."
A key priority for the team's engineers was ensuring the new car could perform consistently across different tracks and conditions.
"The task for the engineers was to build a car that has a wider working window, one that is not so critically on the limit that it is very, very difficult for the drivers to control the car," the Austrian added.
"That means better predictability and, if possible, as McLaren has shown, that these performances are delivered on all tracks, not just on specific tracks."
Fixing the RB20's Weaknesses
One of the RB20's most glaring issues was its inability to handle kerbs effectively, a flaw that Verstappen memorably highlighted during the Monaco Grand Prix when he described the car as a "kangaroo."
This shortcoming proved costly on certain circuits, leaving the team searching for solutions. Marko assured fans that this problem has been a major focus during the RB21's development.
"One of our big weaknesses was not being able to drive completely over the kerbs," Marko confirmed.
"There was that statement by Max that the car jumps like a 'kangaroo', and on certain tracks that cost us a lot of time.
"So we think these weaknesses have been fixed, but we will only really see that during the test in Bahrain."
Eyes on Bahrain
While optimism surrounds the RB21, the true test of its capabilities will come during pre-season testing in Bahrain.
The team is eager to see whether their fixes will translate into on-track success and enable Verstappen to defend his title against increasingly competitive rivals.
For Red Bull, the 2025 season represents not just an opportunity to extend their dominance but also a chance to reaffirm their engineering excellence.
With a car designed for consistency, predictability, and versatility, the RB21 may just be the weapon Verstappen needs to fend off his challengers and secure a historic fifth title.
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