The rivals are closing in
Out of the nine races held so far in 2024, Max Verstappen has won six, two-thirds of them, but as team principal Christian Horner has pointed out, Red Bull must not be under the illusion that this guarantees the 2024 titles are already secured. The rivals are definitely closer to the performance of the RB20, and Max Verstappen had to use all his talent both at the Imola circuit in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and in the Canadian Grand Prix at the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal to prevail on both occasions over Lando Norris’s McLaren, which in Montreal could lament the missed pit stop under Safety Car that saw a strong lead turn into a return to the track in third position behind George Russell’s Mercedes.
The series now heads to the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, a circuit that will provide a rather accurate picture of the balance of power on the track. Red Bull is expected to return to the performance levels seen in Japan and China, but in the meantime, the competition has brought updates to the track that, especially in the case of McLaren, have seen the MCL38 grow significantly, proving to be a car capable of adapting to all types of tracks as evidenced by the three second places achieved at Imola and in Canada with Norris and in Monaco with Piastri.
The fact that the competition is now at the level of the RB20 has also led to some nervousness from Red Bull regarding the front wings of McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes. According to journalist Michael Schmidt in a video analysis for the German outlet Auto Motor und Sport, since Imola, there have been heated discussions triggered by Red Bull about the flexing of the front wing, primarily of McLaren, but also of Ferrari and, lastly, of Mercedes. Red Bull was the ‘magician’ of the flexible front wing, and now that the regulations have tightened significantly in this area, the Milton Keynes team is showing some nervousness about the behavior of the front aerodynamic appendages of their main rivals.
“Red Bull claim that the McLaren wing in particular bends significantly too much. Also Ferrari. And now Mercedes have followed suit with the bending.” – Auto Motor und Sport reports.
“The FIA is playing a bit blind”” said Christian Horner, but the Federation has deemed all the wings in question to be compliant with the regulations. Not all the front wings contested by Red Bull behave the same way, but the pursued goal is the same: some bend outward, others have flaps that turn backward, which are all dynamics aimed at reducing drag as speed increases. It’s a sort of preview of the 2026 wings, when regulations will require the ailerons to assume a specific position to allow the cars to be fast on the straight (perhaps too fast).
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