Christian Horner states that the RB20 will be “an evolution rather than a revolution”
Red Bull won the manufacturers' championship by a wide margin. The team intends to build on its base developed in 2023 to prepare the RB20.

The 2023 season was dominated by Red Bull. With only one Grand Prix eluding them, the Austrian team achieved the best victory ratio in history for a season. Although McLaren had already won almost all the races in 1988 (only one victory eluding it, as for Red Bull), the increase in the number of races over the seasons allows Christian Horner’s team to have a better average.
Red Bull showed its superiority on all types of tracks, only missing the perfect season thanks to Ferrari. However, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez started in the middle of the pack, impacting their success rate.
Red Bull vigilant against copies
Red Bull was only slightly worried in 2023. Despite the wind tunnel time penalty, the good development of the car from the start of the championship put the garage in the best possible conditions. Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and McLaren were always chasing after Red Bull, unable to compete regularly. Despite the development of the single-seaters, Red Bull’s competitors always showed performance far below their rival. Thanks to this configuration, Red Bull was able to put themselves in good conditions for 2024 by quickly starting the development of the RB20.
With such domination, Red Bull predicts that the teams will try to copy the Austrian model to get closer. Facing this, Christian Horner announced that there would be no major change of direction in terms of technology and mechanics. « All areas of the car have been revisited and we can’t afford any complacency », he explained. « The car is therefore largely an evolution of a theme. We are not reinventing the wheel, and this has largely been the path of engineering over the last 12 months. »
Has the ceiling already been reached?
With such performances and so quickly, Red Bull could reach the development ceiling faster than its pursuers. « I expect stable regulations and diminishing returns for us, because I think we have reached the top of the curve faster than the others », explained Christian Horner. « The pack will converge. There is always a reset over the seasons, and I am convinced that you will see many more cars that resemble an RB19 philosophy. If you stand still in this business, you tend to back up. »
If the wind tunnel time restrictions have not been felt during the year 2023, they could more impact 2024. If Red Bull started development for the next season before the other teams, it had to deal with less simulation time. « With the lack of wind tunnel time we have had, even if we have made a transition early, we still had less training time than a large number of our opponents », said the British team director. « We had to be very economical and selective about where we apply this time for the RB20, and this will obviously try to build on the strengths of the RB19. »
For the 2023 season, Red Bull finished with 451 points more than Mercedes, 2nd in the championship.