Red Bull refuses to label RB20 a ‘diva car’ despite recent struggles
Red Bull's Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan made it very clear that despite the RB20 struggles, the chassis wasn't to be deemed a 'diva car.'
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Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner (via IMAGO)
Red Bull had managed to build the most dominant chassis on the field during the ground-effect era. However, the 2024 season was a rude awakening for the Austrian constructor as the RB20 failed to produce impressive results. Regardless, Red Bull’s Chief Engineer Paul Monaghan refused to label the challenger as a ‘diva car.’
The Austrian constructor had continued to attempt to revive performance from the chassis after facing major balance issues. Pierre Wache had previously laid out the risks of the ground-effect era that caught Red Bull in their net.
Additionally, Paul Monaghan refused to rule out the RB20 as simply a ‘diva car’. Subsequently, the Chief Engineer noted that the chassis wasn’t ‘unpredictable’ on track.
No, I wouldn't describe our car like that, some of the driver comments, good, bad, bits they like or don't like have been with our car at most races if not all, and as such, it is not an unpredictable one when it comes to circuits.Paul Monaghan told racingnews365.com
The RB20 chassis was linked to Mercedes’ ‘diva’ W09 challenger from the past. Monaghan claimed that he failed to understand the characteristics that were compared between the two challengers. The 56-year-old reiterated that the chassis built for the 2024 season wasn’t of any sort as described by the rivals.
We know what we might get, and as such, we have things in our preparation to try and alleviate those and extract more from it. So no, I don't know what characteristics Mercedes are describing, if they said their car was a diva, I don't think ours is.Paul Monaghan added
Paul Monaghan claimed there was ‘nothing’ in the research tools that labeled RB20 as ‘worse’
Red Bull continued to conduct multiple tests on the RB20 chassis to figure out what went wrong. Paul Monaghan revealed that from the research tools ran on the car, no issues were found. The tests noted that bringing about any changes in the chassis didn’t make the performance worse or make the team miss the target.
There is nothing we see in our research tools or that we bring back from running which says we've made it worse or missed our targets.Paul Monaghan noted
Hence, the remainder of the 2024 season will be exciting to witness how the team copes with the issues. The Milton-Keynes-based team has already lost a lot of ground to rival teams in the constructors’ standings. The competition continues to build up at the front followed by enticing battles and racing action during races.
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Aditya Pandya
(1440 Articles Published)