Red Bull reveals root cause of RB20 struggles in 2024
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Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache has shed light on the unforeseen challenges that plagued the team's RB20 design during the 2024 Formula 1 season.
While Max Verstappen was able to secure his fourth world title thanks to dominating the opening stages of the season, Red Bull encountered unexpected hurdles over the summer, culminating in a surprising Constructors' Championship defeat at the hands of McLaren.
The turn of events prompted a deep dive into the RB20's performance, seeking answers to the questions that arose as their initial dominance faded.
Speaking to Autosport, Wache provided an unvarnished account of the team's difficulties, pointing to unanticipated issues with the car's aerodynamics, correlation issues, and balance problems.
Early Dominance Was a Surprise
Despite their early dominance, Red Bull did not expect the commanding gap they enjoyed at the season's outset. According to Wache, the team had braced for a much tighter battle from the beginning.
"The season was basically as challenging as we expected," he said.
"I would say we were more surprised at the beginning of the season because of the gap we had.
Red Bull racing technical director Pierre Wache.
"We expected the whole season to be like the end of the season, a big fight with the others.
"We didn't expect such a big hole in the middle of the season ourselves, but we did expect a big fight with others."
Aerodynamic Correlation and Balance Issues
At the heart of Red Bull's struggles was a lack of correlation between the car's predicted performance in simulations and its behavior on the track.
Wache explained that discrepancies in aerodynamic data led to balance issues, which were further exacerbated by the car's sensitivity to certain elements.
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"There are multiple aspects to that story," he said. "The first one is the correlation, that the car had some different characteristics than what we expected in terms of aero.
"Another aspect is that we didn't expect some elements would affect the car performance as much as they did. They were not there by desire, but maybe we didn't focus enough on them.
"Those elements were still there at the end of the season, and we have to fix them for 2025.
"We had a loss of downforce in some areas of the [downforce] map and therefore we didn't perform on track as we thought we could based on the wind tunnel, so there were some holes.
"That is a correlation issue and in terms of delivery on track it was mainly a balance issue."
A Reluctance to Act Early
Red Bull's initial dominance masked the underlying issues, delaying corrective action.
The RB20's balance, especially over kerbs, became a significant handicap as the season progressed and rivals closed the gap.
"I think we spotted it, but after that the car was quick, and we didn't want to modify it massively," Wache admitted.
"When we came back to Europe and were challenged more by McLaren, then it started to become more and more evident that it was one of the biggest issues for us to go quicker."
©RedBull
This hesitancy to make early changes left the team grappling with a car that didn't fully unlock its potential.
However, Wache emphasized that reverting to older specifications would not have been a viable solution.
Despite the challenges, there were moments when the RB20 still shone. Wache pointed to the Qatar Grand Prix, where the car excelled in delivering its strongest performance of the later season.
"In Qatar the car had the same characteristics, and we were able to win fairly and make the quickest car for this track," he noted. "So performance is always relative to the others."
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