Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko admits the team is remaining cautious regarding the chances of making its Mercedes-style Formula 1 innovations for 2024 a success.
The Milton-Keynes-based squad had proclaimed it was targeting evolution for this season after cruising to 21 victories from 22 races as it retained both titles last season.
However, Red Bull has forged some creative design elements on the RB20 that have previously been featured on past Mercedes cars under the latest ground effect rules.
This has extended to adopting deep gulleys in the engine cover and a vertical inlet on the sidepods which has drawn comparison to the ‘zeropod’ concept devised by Mercedes.
The German marque opted to run a slim sidepod solution from the start of 2022 but abandoned the scheme after two iterations failed to deliver the anticipated calculations.
Marko concedes that Red Bull has discovered the same promising figures Mercedes relied upon in the wind tunnel, but time will tell whether it can work on the track.
Asked about Red Bull attempting to right the wrongs Mercedes encountered, Marko told Servus TV: “They were also convinced by the data of their sidepod-less concept, but in practice, it didn’t work at all.
“We will now see in the tests whether we can successfully implement this solution, or let’s say a similar solution.”
He added: “Adrian Newey [Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer] always favoured cars without radiators. But of course, the engine people can’t do that. That is logical.
“We don’t have it as extreme [as Mercedes], but we have it in a similar direction in terms of the idea.”
Reigning champion Max Verstappen described the RB20 as a product of “controlled aggression”, with Sergio Perez also hailing it a “brave move” by Red Bull.
Marko has confirmed that Red Bull has developed upon the title-winning RB19 more than had been predicted and says the launch-spec car will be a starting platform.
“It’s more than an evolution. It’s a small revolution,” the Austrian outlined.
“It is the basis of what will be used in 2024. In terms of simulation and the wind tunnel, it all worked very well.”
Verstappen will be at the wheel of Red Bull’s revised F1 car throughout the opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, with Perez sampling the RB20 tomorrow morning.
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