Red Bull launch ‘bold and aggressive’ 2024 car

Max Verstappen praised his Red Bull team’s “bold” and “aggressive” approach as the reigning Formula 1 world champions revealed their 2024 challenger.

Red Bull delivered the most dominant season in the sport’s history in 2023, winning 21 out of 22 races as Verstappen romped to a third successive drivers’ title.

The team will begin 2024 as clear favourites with the same regulations remaining in place, but according to Verstappen, have looked to push the needle once more with the design of their RB20, which was revealed at the team’s Milton Keynes factory on Thursday.

“I do like what the team has done,” the Dutchman told Sky Sports News. “It’s not a conservative car. It’s not like, ‘last year was a great car, we’ll just add a few bits and try to make it a little bit faster’.

“I do think they’ve been quite bold and that’s what I like. They’ve been quite aggressive.

“Everyone is very positive, everyone is very motivated and I’m just very excited to learn more about the car.”

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez is likely to remain the focus of much speculation as he enters the final year of his deal with Red Bull.

The Mexican matched Verstappen by taking two victories in the first four races of last season, but was unable to sustain his form during a slump that lasted for most of the campaign.

“It doesn’t bother me. I think it’s part of the job. I’m out of contract for next year, people know about it,” Perez said.

“But to be honest, that’s not the priority. I know that if we have a good season, we have good results there will be plenty of options out there.

“So my main focus is to get that consistency throughout the season, that development to be able to really carry on the form that we start with and be better race by race.

“I think we are able to do that, we have a really good chance of fighting for the championship.”

Horner attends launch amid ongoing investigation

The build-up to Red Bull’s title defence and 20th season in the sport has been overshadowed by allegations of inappropriate behaviour being made against team principal Christian Horner.

The 50-year-old spoke to the media at Thursday’s launch for the first time since the F1 team’s Austrian parent company confirmed an independent investigation into the allegations.

After reiterating his total denial of the allegations and insisting it was “business as usual” at Red Bull, Horner echoed Verstappen’s assessment of his team’s new car.

“You can never stand still in this business and of course, our opposition have got a lot of motivation to go and beat us,” Horner told Sky Sports News.

“So we’ve taken all the lessons from RB19 and looked to apply them into 20 and I think the team have done an amazing job in what looks like an aggressive evolution of what was the most successful car of all time.”

The design of the RB20, overseen by chief technical officer Adrian Newey, features even more dramatic cuts to its sidepods than the RB19 possessed.

While the design looks futuristic, the livery retains the team’s trademark dark blue, yellow and red seen throughout their time in F1.

How do Red Bull, Verstappen improve on near-perfection – and a big year for Perez

Having ended Mercedes’ dominance of the sport following the change of technical regulations in 2022, Red Bull moved into a different realm of domination last year with the RB19 proving to be the most successful car in the sport’s history in terms of the number and percentage of races won in a season.

Only the Singapore GP in September, won by Ferrari, escaped the team in the 22-race campaign as they came as close as anyone since McLaren in 1988 (when there were only 16 races) to achieving F1’s first-ever invincible season.

Nineteen of their 21 wins were achieved by Verstappen with the Dutchman harnessing the superiority of Red Bull’s car to stunning effect, setting a new record of 10 wins in a row and clinching his third successive title in the Qatar Sprint in October with a record-equalling six Grands Prix remaining.

2024 now presents Verstappen, entering his 10th season of F1 but still only 26 years of age, with the opportunity to become only the sixth driver to win at least four world titles and just the fifth after Juan-Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton to string a quadruple of successes together.

But, despite the dominant machinery at his disposal, 2023 was a very different story for Perez.

An impressive start to the year for the Mexican driver, when he shared the wins with Verstappen across the opening four rounds, gave way to an increasing struggle for pace and confidence in the RB19 as he fell further away from his team-mate and instead into the clutches of the chasing pack and a fight to keep hold of second place in the standings.

After some alarming slumps in form, particularly in qualifying, Perez eventually secured Red Bull their first-ever Drivers’ Championship one-two thanks to a steadier end to the campaign, but clearly remains under pressure into 2024 in what is currently the final year of his Red Bull contract.

In-house alternatives at the sister RB team, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, along with former Red Bull-backed drivers such as Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz could be in the running to replace Perez should the 34-year-old not be granted a contract renewal.

When is F1 pre-season testing?

Pre-season testing takes place from Wednesday February 21 to Friday February 23 at the Bahrain International Circuit with just three days for the teams to get prepared for the new season.

When is the first F1 race?

Just one week later, the opening race of the 2024 season will begin with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29 to March 2.

Due to the Muslim holy period of Ramadan, the Bahrain and, seven days later, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, will be held on a Saturday.

This means practice one and two will take place on Thursdays, with final practice and qualifying on Fridays.

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Watch pre-season testing from Bahrain live on Sky Sports F1 from February 21-23 and every round of the new season, starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix from February 29-March 2. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership

Source : Sky Sports