The Mercedes-like design decisions in Red Bull's follow-up to an F1 world-beater

How do you improve on perfection? That's a bit of an existential question, since taking perfection and elevating it almost seems oxymoronic in its intent. In Formula 1, it's simple: perfection doesn't exist and there's always things to improve.

Red Bull's transition to its all-conquering RB19 to its new RB20 will have been carried out with clear notes on how to push the boundaries of contemporary F1 even further. Few people outside of the team, even the most fervent Max Verstappen fan, would welcome a repeat of its inevitable and crushing dominance in 2023 - but this is exactly what the team itself is striving for. A clean sweep of victories in 2024 will be top of its yearly shopping list. The RB20 is the car tasked with getting from that ambitious A to B, so it's going to have to be pretty special to manage that as the other teams converge upon the Milton Keynes squad's position.

Seemingly dipped in the River Styx, 2023's RB19 was saturated in a serum of immortality in almost every scenario. It was quick in a straight line. High-speed cornering was unmatched by anyone else. Tyre preservation was exceptional.

In Verstappen's prodigious hands, it shattered records for dominance; any minor setbacks in qualifying and at the start of races could be easily fixed as the Dutchman began to loom ominously in mirrors and could surgically execute the requisite lap times over a race distance to ensure he came up for air with the lead. And, perhaps, 20 seconds in hand over the rest of the field.

If there was the faintest whiff of an Achilles heel on the RB19, it was in low-speed conditions. A chance of defeat in Monaco was warded off by Verstappen in qualifying, even though he tapped the wall, and Aston Martin's pitstop fumble when the rain began to pepper the Cote d'Azur ensured that the eventual champion could go unchallenged. Instead, Singapore was the miscue; set-up mistakes contributed to the team's only failure to visit the podium over the 2023 season. In that defeat in the South East Asian city-state, however, the team had another area to focus upon with the RB19's follow-up.

Red Bull's evolution with its RB20 has taken the team in a different development direction to its rivals

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Among the trends that Red Bull itself had set, it now aims to set new ones to further exert its stranglehold. Some of those on the RB20 apparently fly in the face of those that it had already put in place with its RB18 and RB19 lineage. Per its revered chief technical officer Adrian Newey, the new car is an evolution of its predecessor, but with very noticeable differences. Where other teams have zigged, Red Bull has zagged.

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Let's look into those 2023 trends to understand that. Most teams have opted for a shorter nose to open up the mainplane wing element, so Red Bull has extended its nose to the leading edge of the wing as a whole. The RB18/19 adoption of a protruding lower lip of its sidepod intakes has been widely adopted, so Red Bull has flipped that and extended the upper lip forward - or, rather, the only lip as the inlet is vertical and hugs the flanks of the chassis bulkhead. Around the engine cover, the majority have opted for a flat horizontal surface around the flared bodywork, so Red Bull has channelled it slightly instead.

"Time will tell if it's really, really good. But from what I see within the team everyone is just happy with what they have achieved in the winter" Max Verstappen

Perhaps, in its position as nominal trendsetter, it is Red Bull's prerogative to chart new courses that other teams invariably follow. But that's not to say that those design features haven't appeared before, because there was one car in 2023 that did all of those things with its bodywork: Mercedes. It's already been commented upon before with the leaked images of the RB20 emerging on social media during its Tuesday Silverstone shakedown and filming day, but there are distinct similarities.

The 'shoulders' around the engine cover, which blend into the halo mounting, are elevated more than its predecessor and are turned down at the exits to expel hot air towards the beam wing. Furthermore, the RB20 makes use of the prevailing rear wing trend that aims to reclaim the vortex-friendly format that the old ruleset provided.

Had Mercedes got it right, but didn't quite have the patience or the insight to get its W14 firing on all cylinders? Or has Red Bull tripped down the same dark cul-de-sac? It's probably not as simple as either of those suggestions.

One could equally suggest that the above-ground aerodynamics are actually pretty irrelevant, and that Red Bull's silver bullet remains conveniently hidden underneath. The curtain was raised on RB19's floor in Monaco last year when Sergio Perez's car dangled precariously from a crane, which perhaps gave the rival aerodynamicists a chance to experiment.

Like The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's", when Homer reveals the secret ingredient of the eponymous drink is nothing more than Krusty-brand cough mixture, all the local taverns had copied the recipe - but if Red Bull is a cannier operator than grouchy bartender Moe Szyslak, it will have improved its own concoction with a new secret ingredient.

Has Red Bull aimed to perfect what Mercedes couldn't?

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

"I'm quite happy with I think the direction that they chose," Verstappen explained at the RB20's launch. "I saw the drawings I think in Abu Dhabi, the last race, I was like, 'wow, that's quite different in a way'. And they've not been conservative, let's say like that.

"I think what I like about the team is that we had a great package, but they took the chance to really go all out, I would say and try to make it better. Of course, time will tell if it's really, really good. But from what I see within the team everyone is just happy with what they have achieved in the winter. But then again, we don't know. We can't control what the other people did."

A heavy undercut around the sidepods is present alongside those inlets, and the team has resisted the temptation to channel the upper surface of the sidepods too much, although there is a version of this towards the tail end of them where they meet the floor. There appears to be a small outlet here, perhaps to trim a boundary layer as the airflow works its way around the rear suspension components.

Remaining under wraps, the edges of the floor have not been shown to retain some degree of secrecy, and other key details remain veiled at this stage. Regardless, Red Bull has at least offered something different compared to shoving the official F1 showcar in front of the photographers and insisting it was something else.

That said, there's a chance that Red Bull emerges in Bahrain with something completely different, and perhaps the Mercedes similarities could continue with the addition of a zero-pod. The possibilities are endless.

Newey had been worried that Red Bull had been too conservative with its progression from the RB19, but the car shown at the launch certainly doesn't suggest that. To move its concept on, Red Bull needed to either innovate or consider other concepts and look at their value as the basis for longer-term development. The team has done both - now comes the evidence of whether it can keep the streak going...

The first time the RB20 will be seen in the flesh at pre-season testing will be closely examined against the intriguing launch images

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool