Why the roots of Red Bull's F1 domination go back to its wilderness years

Just when Red Bull’s rivals appeared to be closing down the gap to Formula 1’s current benchmark squad, so the RB19 was able to find another gear and pull itself clear again.

With Max Verstappen’s race-winning advantage over the nearest non-Red Bull car having been whittled down from the 38.6 seconds it was in Bahrain to less than 5s at the British Grand Prix, the team’s major Hungary update appears to have lifted it well above the rest once more.

The winning margins in Hungary and Belgium were again in excess of 30s, and it was quite telling that, perhaps for the first time this year, Red Bull’s senior management is letting itself dream of a clean sweep. As Helmut Marko left the Spa-Francorchamps paddock on Sunday night, he was asked if he felt that Red Bull could win all the races.

“If you think about it logically, then no [because a lot of things can go wrong during a single race weekend],” he said. “But we never thought that we could win the first 12 races as well, so why not now, I have to say.”

What has been particularly fascinating this year is that, despite the might of Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin throwing everything at trying to improve their cars, all they seem to have done is shuffle the chasing pack behind the RB19.

Some of that has been down to the cost cap and the more prescriptive regulations that limit the scope for teams to unlock a big gain. There is also an element of this current generation of F1 cars being particularly tricky beasts, as how they are set-up – in terms of both ride height and suspension stiffness – makes it especially hard to pinpoint the perfect window they need to be operating in.

There has been a revolving cast of teams closest to Red Bull, with Aston Martin being second best early in the year

Photo by: Erik Junius

And things can be further complicated as aero upgrades can influence how the vortices under the floor behave, which in turn alter the characteristics of the cars. It is these ‘side effects’ that Aston Martin suggests has led to its recent dip in form after a super strong start to the season.

But, as Red Bull’s rivals chase answers to the question of just why the RB19 is so good, there is a widespread acceptance that there is no magic bullet to explain why it is head and shoulders above everyone else. It is simply that the team has produced a challenger that perfectly suits what is demanded of the new ground-effect era: it has a nice wide operating window, it handles well, it is very aerodynamically efficient, it has a solid rear end, and it has excellent ride characteristics.

These properties provide an interesting point of reflection, because these are areas where Red Bull has been historically strong in recent years – so it is actually little wonder it is excelling right now.

In the case of Mercedes, the team had a rude awakening at the final Bahrain test at the start of 2022 when it bolted on a major upgrade package – with a ton of extra downforce – and found that it didn’t actually go any quicker

Rewind to the previous rules set, and the approach of teams – and where effort was rewarded through the regulations – was through the addition of downforce. Teams didn’t need to worry so much about ride control, or wide operating windows for ride height, or slight imbalances in performance, or a nervous rear end. Instead, there was an almost linear relationship between smacking more downforce points on the car (as long as it wasn’t too draggy) and the lap times improving.

For teams like Mercedes, which was a master of constant development in the wind tunnel to continually add more downforce to cars, the rewards were great. And it did not matter too much if the car didn’t handle perfectly, or the balance wasn’t ideal – because the extra grip on offer overcame those weaknesses.

Nothing proved this more than its famous ‘diva’ cars – which did not feel great to drive but ultimately were good enough to win championships. Mercedes was able to pursue downforce at all costs because it had a benchmark power unit in the back, which gave it some leeway when it came to balancing the downside of extra drag.

The same was not true for Red Bull, which - throughout much of the turbo-hybrid era - found itself on the backfoot in the horsepower stakes. The deficit meant that dirty downforce was not the best way forward, it needed to focus on efficiency, ride and car dynamics to overcome its power deficit. It therefore threw more of its attention into perfecting these areas of car performance.

The old Mercedes tactic of adding more downforce to tame its 'diva' cars, which were sufficient to beat Red Bull with its inferior power units, can no longer be relied upon

Photo by: Hasan Bratic / Motorsport Images

Fast forward to the 2022 ground-effect rules and these differing strengths of F1’s biggest teams suddenly became critical in changing the competitive picture.

In the case of Mercedes, the team had a rude awakening at the final Bahrain test at the start of 2022 when it bolted on a major upgrade package – with a ton of extra downforce – and found that it didn’t actually go any quicker. All that happened was its porpoising got worse, and the car became a huge handful for its drivers.

Further adding to its woes was the fact that F1’s 2022 rules had also banned the kind of hydraulic actuation suspension that had been a mainstay of Mercedes' management of its car platform throughout the previous rules era. So not only was the team left with the reality that the strengths key to its previous success were not of much use for the 2022 rules set, but it was also left without one of its key weapons in overcoming the problems it faced.

For Red Bull, the very areas that it had been forced to perfect previously through being down on power – excellent ride, supreme aero efficiency, a solid rear end, and a wide operating window – were suddenly perfect for the new rules set. And even better considering its Honda power unit is right up there.

This wasn’t so obvious at first sight, because the RB18 was massively overweight when the 2022 season started and it was Ferrari that got the early glory. But once the weight came off, and Red Bull could properly unleash the full potential of the car, it became almost unstoppable.

Only once in the past 12 months has anything other than Red Bull won a race. The pain of being so comprehensively beaten has been clear to see for rival teams, but the understanding of what needs to be done is increasing race by race. Teams are chasing efficiency, throwing more effort into understanding car dynamics and shifting attention to areas where it is now clear the true performance of the 2022 rules set lies.

Overhauling F1’s benchmark squad is not going to happen overnight, but there is some optimism among senior paddock figures that this winter will see the proper fightback begin now they at least know why Red Bull has been able to unlock its greatest gains.

The chasing pack is finally starting to understand the keys to Red Bull's success

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images