Red Bull admits RB20 might’ve pushed the boundaries ‘too much’ amidst recent struggles

Red Bulls technical director Pierre Wache claimed that Red Bull might've been too ambitious with the RB20's design.

Red Bull admits RB20 might’ve pushed the boundaries ‘too much’ amidst recent struggles

Christian Horner and RB20 (via IMAGO)

Red Bull’s RB20 hasn’t won any of the last four races before the summer break and no longer appears to be the quickest car. In recent races, McLaren seemed much faster than Red Bull, and Mercedes might’ve matched the speed of the RB20. Although the RB20 improved, opponents made some of the bigger steps. Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Wache shared his thoughts on the general feeling of the RB20 driven by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Pierre Wache reckoned that Red Bull might’ve pushed their boundaries of their car’s design too aggressively in certain areas. This suggests they tried to enhance the car’s performance by making significant changes, but those changes might have gone too far. As a result, the car now has some features or characteristics that are not as driver-friendly as they should be. In the search of higher and better performance, the RB20 had led to new challenges for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

I think we pushed the boundary a little bit high and, in some areas, maybe too much, and that has created some characteristics that are not designed for the driver.
Pierre Wache told PlanetF1
YouTube video

Pierre Wache stated that in Formula 1 success doesn’t only depend on how well your car’s perform, but also on how well your competitor’s car performs. He mentioned last season, Red Bull’s RB19 was the dominant car, because the opponents couldn’t build a much faster car than that. However, in the current season each team has brought crucial upgrades to their cars which makes the competition very tough. Therefore, the competition this year is making it hard for Red Bull to maintain the same level of success.

FS Video
The success is coming, not by yourself, it is also coming by the relative performance to the others. Last year, we were fortunate that the others didn’t do as good a job as they have done this year.
Pierre Wache added.
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Pierre Wache claims RB20 a ‘better car’ than RB19

Pierre Wache explained that the RB20 is an improvement over the previous RB19 model, but there’s still room for improvement. Wache believed they could make the car even better for the second half of the season. They are working on fixing the issues with the RB20 so that by the end of this season and into the next year, they can provide their drivers with a more effective and competitive car. Red Bull’s goal is to give the drivers a better machine that will help them perform better in races and be more competitive against other teams.

RB20
RB20(via IMAGO)
RB20 is a better car than RB19 – however, maybe we could do a better job and that’s what we are trying to fix for the end of the season and for next year, to give the driver a better tool to be able to fight.
Pierre Wache stated

Certainly, Red Bull aims to maintain the same level of performance that brought them success last season. As F1 approached the summer break, the Austrian team focused on improving their car’s performance to stay competitive. They need to make the necessary changes to avoid letting other teams take their lead in the Championships.

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