Formula 1 News: Red Bull reveals their 2024 RB20 challenger (2nd Update)

What Red Bull have done with their vertical sidepod inlets on the RB20 is sure to have the other teams realizing they were out-engineered once again.

The radiator area inlet previously high up at the top of the chassis, has been moved lower, not only reducing the center of gravity height of the cooling system, but also allowing the team to maximize airflow, and hence downforce, under the sidepod.

Red Bull hid the rear diffuser of the RB20 during the launch for a reason. We suspect Adrian Newey and Pierre Wache have some tricks up their sleeves there as well.

Red Bull has released more photos of the RB20 launch, and we were able to determine that the renderings below are not entirely accurate.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

There is a definite vertical slot hugging the monocoque for the radiator inlets, much different than what the renderings show and another groundbreaking design by the Red Bull team led by Adrian Newey and Pierre Wache.

Will this car propel Max Verstappen to his 4th straight World Championship?  We will know better after the first race in Bahrain in a couple of weeks.

Red Bull launched their 2024 Formula 1 car, the RB20, online Thursday. While obviously, it was not the car we will see in Bahrain, there are some design clues we can take from the renderings.

“It’s not tactical, it’s based on performance and what we’re seeing through our simulation tools,” Horner said. “Obviously, the car looks quite visibly different in certain areas to last year. Only the stopwatch will tell, but in the virtual world we wouldn’t have committed it to design if we didn’t feel it was better.

“It’s not tactical, it’s based on performance and what we’re seeing through our simulation tools,” Horner said. “Obviously, the car looks quite visibly different in certain areas to last year. Only the stopwatch will tell, but in the virtual world we wouldn’t have committed it to design if we didn’t feel it was better.

“I’m quite happy with the direction that they chose,” driver Max Verstappen said. “I saw the drawings I think in Abu Dhabi, the last race, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s quite different in a way.’ They’ve not been conservative, let’s say it 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 and try to make it better.

“Of course, time will tell if it’s really, really good. 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.

“I think it’s controlled aggressiveness. It doesn’t seem like it’s a question mark of what they’ve done, like, they’re not entirely sure.”

RB20 Specifications

Press Release

Oracle Red Bull Racing today embarked on its 20th Season in Formula One with a globally livestreamed show, to launch the start of the Team’s new “Forever Rebl” campaign, which will celebrate two decades of Red Bull culture in the sport.

To fire up the festivities, today’s 2024 Season Launch kicked off a year of celebrations, that will explore the Team’s impact on F1 on and off the track, and how it grew from paddock upstarts to multiple championship winners.

Forever Rebl was created to highlight the role of Red Bull culture in developing a Team that has continued to push the boundaries of the sport, since its F1 debut at the 2005 Australian Grand Prix. Forever Rebl will see the Team develop a series of special events and activations throughout the year, each designed to get fans closer to the Team and its 20 year history.

From building on last year’s Make Your Mark livery competition with new and even more exciting opportunities for fans to add their creative touch to this year’s car, to stunning collaborations in art and fashion, that will also result in exclusive merchandise. From multiple in-person events around the globe to giving fans the chance to get their hands on unique pieces of memorabilia that spans the Team’s two decades in F1. Forever Rebl will put the Team’s faithful right at the heart of the celebrations.

And with that spirit in mind, fans were firmly in focus at today’s 2024 Season Launch. Last year, via The Paddock, the Team’s fans were offered the chance to virtually present the launch on their social channels, but this year for the launch of the landmark RB20, a select group of lucky fans were handed the opportunity to attend the launch in person, at the Red Bull Technology Campus.

Over 350 fans, Team partners and members of the media packed out a state-of-the-art, bespoke built set, to welcome the RB20 to the racing world. 13-time Grand Prix winner and former Red Bull Racing star David Coulthard hosted the ceremony with presenter Derin Adetosye, Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner, three-time World Champion Max Verstappen, six-time race winner and 2023 runner-up Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez and Red Bull Academy Program Emely de Heus and Hamda Al Qubaisi. The group came together to deliver a show which channeled the Team’s glorious history and set up a thrilling charge into the future for the double title-defending squad.

Unveiling the RB20, Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner said: “This is a momentous year in the Team’s history. Over the past 20 years, Red Bull has succeeded in changing the landscape of Formula One and it has done it by being determined to do things differently, by being committed to playing hard and racing even harder and by being utterly focused on competing for the biggest prizes in the sport. We’ve been lucky enough to do that on multiple occasions and seven Drivers’ titles, six Constructors’ Championship wins and 113 race victories to date demonstrate the success of Red Bull’s vision for the Team. The latest chapter of that story starts today with the RB20. It’s going to be a thrilling and hugely competitive season but as we saw last year, this is a Team operating at the peak of its powers and in Max and Checo we have two drivers who can deliver at every circuit, in any conditions, so I’m confident that, just as we have done for the past 20 years, we can compete for podiums, wins and hopefully more championships.”