F1 News: Red Bull team again gets least amount of Aero Dev Time

As a result of winning the 2023 F1 Constructor’s title, the Red Bull team will get the least amount of Wind tunnel and CFD development time for 2024.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Despite having the least amount of development time in 2023 Red Bull engineers worked harder and smarter and developed a car that embarrassed everyone else.

With the least amount of development time used to design the Red Bull RB19, the car still won 21 out of 22 races, although much of that can be contributed to Max Verstappen, who is more talented than all the other drivers.

Dr. Helmut Marko called Red Bull driver Verstappen the most talented driver in a century.

In 2023, the Red Bull  team had an additional penalty of 10% due to a minor cost cap breach the year before. So in 2024 they actually get 10% more time for car aerodynamic development than in 2023, but still less than everyone else.

To allow the poorer performing teams to catch up, the FIA rule book gives the less talented teams more development time in the hope they will close the gap to the top teams, with the last place team getting 115% of the base time and the first place team just 70%.

The rules are working as designed – for example, in 2023 the McLaren team was able to make gains on Red Bull because of their poor finishing position in 2022.

Will the RB20 once again destroy the opposition?

Aero development time for Jan to June 2024