Red Bull Technical Director Pierre Wache insists that copying its car concept won’t enable rival Formula 1 teams to replicate its success without actually understanding it.
The Milton-Keynes-based squad has been the dominant force since F1 returned to ground effect aero in 2022, winning 39 out of 44 races to secure successive title doubles.
Amid that crushing supremacy, last season the competition gradually converged on the downwash sidepod solution pioneered and optimised by Red Bull under this rules cycle.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner is convinced its competitors will copy the philosophy of the title-winning RB19 as the champions opt to pursue “evolution” rather than revolution.
However, Wache is adamant that other teams won’t reduce the deficit by mirroring what Red Bull has done without acknowledging the intricacies behind it.
“I think it’s possible to copy, but in every business in the world, when it’s technical, the ‘how’ is one aspect,” he told Motorsport.com. “The most important aspect is ‘why’.
“If you don’t know ‘why’, you can copy whatever you want, but it’s better to stay with what you understand.”
Wache admits that Red Bull analyses what developments the competition is introducing, but reiterates that implementing identical components doesn’t guarantee progress.
“We also copy some stuff,” he added. “We [might] copy the wrong thing, but you [also] inspire yourself based on what you see from others.
“It’s like a Darwin effect, this business. You see something from others, you add another idea to it and you develop and you grow your concept, your strengths and your capacity.
“But, every time, it has to be on the understanding aspect. If you just copy for copying’s sake, it doesn’t work.
“You [need to] have the knowledge and also what you want to achieve. If you don’t have the same golden aim of characteristics, it doesn’t bring anything.”
The Frenchman also highlighted that Red Bull’s virtually untouchable status throughout last term will not ensure it remains ahead from the outset this season, citing that performance is relative to the rest of the grid.
“You can have the same car and the others do a better job than you,” he added.
“We put everything together. The car has some weaknesses, but not a big one. [It’s] quite efficient in terms of downforce versus drag. That’s clearly a key and also [it’s] quite gentle on tyres for the race pace.
“That, I think, is one of the key [elements], because if you look at qualifying we didn’t do all the poles. We just won all the races.
“The dominance also depends on what the others did. Maybe the others made some mistakes to develop their car, because when you see the level of development that McLaren put together during the season, and the capacity they have to be closer to us with quite a bad start to the season, you say maybe the others didn’t put the car together.”
