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Red Bull Racing RB20

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Red Bull Racing RB20
Max Verstappen driving the RB20 during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix
CategoryFormula One
ConstructorRed Bull Racing (chassis)
Honda Racing Corporation (power unit)
Designer(s)
  • Adrian Newey (Chief Technical Officer)
  • Pierre Waché (Technical Director)
  • Ben Waterhouse (Chief Engineer, Performance)
  • Paul Monaghan (Chief Engineer, Car Engineering)
  • Craig Skinner (Chief Designer)
  • Jerome Lafrage (Chief Engineer, Composites and Structures)
  • Edward Aveling (Chief Engineer, Mechanical and Systems)
  • Enrico Balbo (Head of Aerodynamics)
  • Ben Hodgkinson (Power Unit Technical Director)
PredecessorRed Bull RB19
Technical specifications
Suspension (front)Multi-link pull-rod actuated dampers and anti-roll bar
Suspension (rear)Double wishbone push-rod springs, dampers, and anti-roll bar
EngineHonda RBPTH002[1]
1.6 L (98 cu in) direct injection V6 turbocharged engine limited to 15,000 rpm in a rear mid-mounted, rear-wheel-drive layout
Electric motorHonda
Kinetic and thermal energy recovery systems
BatteryHonda Lithium-ion battery
Power1,040 hp (775 kW)
Weight798 kg (1,759 lbs)
FuelEsso / Mobil Synergy
LubricantsMobil 1
TyresPirelli P Zero (Dry)
Pirelli Cinturato (Wet)
Competition history
Notable drivers
Debut2024 Bahrain Grand Prix
First win2024 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last win2024 São Paulo Grand Prix
Last event2024 São Paulo Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF/Laps
2181784

The Red Bull Racing RB20 is a Formula One car designed and constructed by Red Bull Racing and powered by the Honda RBPTH002 power unit to compete in the 2024 Formula One World Championship. The car, which is the successor to the highly successful Red Bull RB19, was unveiled at the team factory in Milton Keynes on 15 February 2024.[2][3][4] The RB20 is currently being driven by defending World Champion Max Verstappen and teammate Sergio Pérez, and made its competitive debut at the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Early-season rounds saw dominant pace, which was confirmed when Red Bull repeated their dominant performances shown throughout the previous year, but as the season progressed, Red Bull and its RB20 found itself pressured and outpaced by rival teams, particularly by McLaren and their MCL38; while the team has since attempted to introduce upgrades and changes to their car to return to their season-opening dominance, the poor performance of Pérez in particular and an uptick of performance from McLaren and Ferrari saw them drop to a lowly third in the Constructors' Championship as of the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix. As of the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix, the RB20 has achieved 8 wins (plus 4 sprint wins, the latest being at the United States Grand Prix), 17 podiums, and 8 pole positions – plus 4 sprint pole positions – and it holds 4 fastest laps.

Competitive history

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Pre-season

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After the pre-season test in Sakhir at the Bahrain International Circuit, reigning champion Max Verstappen was reported to be 'pleased' with the car's characteristics; Red Bull, who only topped the first day of testing, opted not to focus on lap times.[5]

Opening rounds: Dominant form

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Max Verstappen leads Sergio Pérez during qualifying for the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix

The RB20's pace was confirmed in the subsequent Bahrain Grand Prix, where Verstappen took pole position; he then proceeded to score his fifth career grand chelem during the race itself. His teammate Pérez finished in second, 22 seconds behind him.[6] Verstappen took another dominant victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, teammate Pérez finished in second place once more, this time 13 seconds behind him. This marked Verstappen's 100th career podium.[7]

The Australian Grand Prix saw polesitter Verstappen run into early trouble after suffering a brake failure, marking his first retirement in over two years (having retired at the same event in 2022), which allowed Scuderia Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. to score a victory.[8] Further wins and double podium finishes in the Japanese Grand Prix[9] and Chinese Grand Prix[10] followed. At the Miami Grand Prix, Verstappen was set to win the race, having won the sprint, but hit a bollard and damaged his floor. A safety car period then allowed Lando Norris to overtake Verstappen and take his maiden Grand Prix victory. Meanwhile, Pérez finished in fourth.[11]

Mid-season rounds: Second-fastest car

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At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen led a majority of the race from pole position and would go on to win, despite Norris closing in by the closing stages, while Pérez finished in eighth, his first finish outside of the top five this season.[12] At the Monaco Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified and finished sixth while Pérez had a heavy tangle with the Haas cars, sending all three drivers into retirement.[13] Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix after a close qualifying session with George Russell, with the race being held under intermediate conditions that facilitated changes to the wet compounds.[14] He also won the Spanish Grand Prix.[15] Verstappen finished ahead of Norris in both races. Meanwhile however, Pérez failed to finish within the top five in both races; retiring in Canada after he spun the car and broke his rear wing, and finishing in eighth in Spain.

Verstappen took pole position and won the Austrian Grand Prix sprint event. He was on course to win the main race, also from pole position, before a slow stop brought Norris into contention. The two fought for the lead before colliding on lap 64, giving both cars punctures with Norris in particular being handed race-ending damage. Verstappen also received a time penalty for causing the incident, which did not affect his final finishing position of fifth. Meanwhile, Pérez finished in seventh behind Nico Hülkenberg after Hülkenberg passed him in the closing stages of the race.[16] The British Grand Prix was particularly tricky for both Red Bull drivers, with Verstappen and Pérez making errors during qualifying that sent the latter out of Q1 and the former gaining floor damage. Verstappen, whose floor was replaced following qualifying, finished in second after making his way up the field while Pérez finished in seventeenth.[17] The Hungarian Grand Prix was not any better, with Verstappen struggling with the car's handling and pace while Pérez crashed out of Q1 for the second consecutive race in a row. While Pérez recovered to seventh, Verstappen finished in fifth after colliding with Lewis Hamilton, dropping him behind Charles Leclerc.[18] The Belgian Grand Prix saw Verstappen, who set the fastest time in qualifying, take a grid penalty. Teammate Pérez, who set the second-fastest time in qualifying, started on the front row for the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix. However, during the race, Pérez dropped down from second to finish in seventh, while Verstappen, who started eleventh, finished in fourth (following the disqualification of another driver).[19]

Verstappen during the Dutch Grand Prix

The Dutch Grand Prix saw Verstappen take the second-fastest time in qualifying. He briefly took the lead after Norris had a poor start, but the McLaren driver showed consistent pace behind his rival. On lap 18, Norris took the lead and extended the gap to Verstappen by over 22 seconds as he took the win; for comparison, Verstappen, while in the lead, could only muster a gap that was under 1.5 seconds to Norris, and he suffered issues with turning the car.[20]

The Italian Grand Prix saw both Red Bulls qualify seventh and eighth for Verstappen and Pérez respectively. Pérez finished where he started in eighth while Verstappen made up one place to finish sixth, but ended up 37 seconds behind race winner Charles Leclerc.[21]

Closing rounds: Fending off rivals

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The Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw Pérez, who qualified fourth, outqualify Verstappen for the first time this season; Verstappen started sixth. Pérez was in the fight for a podium the whole race until he collided with Sainz, taking both out of the race at the very end. Verstappen's title rival Norris worked his way up from a lowly sixteenth on the grid to overtake him for fourth also during the closing stages of the race.[22]

Characteristics

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While initially dominant, the RB20 was quickly challenged by rival constructors McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. One of the main issues Red Bull has tried to fix is a balance issue which leads to understeer, which was most apparent during the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix. Additionally, the RB20 struggled with kerb-riding, which was particularly apparent at the Monaco Grand Prix.[23]

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen experienced understeer, complaining to team radio that despite having a -5 setting on his brake bias, the car continued to exhibit understeer.[24] After the race, Verstappen suggested that the car's pace had now fallen behind McLaren's MCL38.[25] Team principal Horner acknowledged after the Italian Grand Prix that Red Bull had a balance issue that caused a downwards trend in performance the team has since then attempted to fix.[26] Following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Red Bull lost the lead of the Constructors' Championship to McLaren, Horner revealed that said issues, which also coincided with a downwards slump in form for Pérez, stemmed from an upgrade to the RB19 introduced at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix; the team began to focus their development on Verstappen's car over fixing any potential issues with their ultimately dominant 2023 car.[27]

Liveries

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In March 2024, Red Bull announced REBL CUSTMS, a fan design livery competition for the RB20. The winning designs would be used on the car at three races: the British, Singapore, and United States Grands Prix.[28]

During the British Grand Prix, the team ran the first of the special liveries. The design was described as “Stallion Red” and was designed by Chalaj Suvanish from Thailand.[29]

Before the Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull announced that they would no longer be using the fan-designed livery for the Singapore and United States Grands Prix, citing weight issues as the reason. [30]

Complete Formula One results

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Key
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Other points position
Blue Other classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (empty cell)
Annotation Meaning
P Pole position
F Fastest lap
Superscript
number 		Points-scoring position
in sprint
Year Entrant Power unit Tyres Driver name Grands Prix Points WCC pos.
BHR SAU AUS JPN CHN MIA EMI MON CAN ESP AUT GBR HUN BEL NED ITA AZE SIN USA MXC SAP LVG QAT ABU
2024 Red Bull Racing Honda RBPTH002 P Netherlands Max Verstappen 1PF 1P RetP 1PF 11 P 21 P 1P 6 1 1 51 P 2 5 4 2 6 5 2 31 6 14 F 544* 3rd*
Mexico Sergio Pérez 2 2 5 2 33 43 8 Ret Ret 8 78 17 7 7F 6 8 17† 10 7 17 118
Source:

* Season still in progress.

References

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  1. ^ "Honda RBPTH002". Honda Racing. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  2. ^ "The exciting new Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 takes off". Red Bull. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Oracle Red Bull Racing 2024 Launch". Red Bull. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Join defending triple World Champion, Max Verstappen and Checo Pérez from the Red Bull Technology Campus in Milton Keynes as the Team gear up for another season of racing". Red Bull. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  5. ^ Verstappen hails 'very positive test' for Red Bull as he gives verdict on RB20. www.formula1.com (Report). 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  6. ^ Benson, Andrew (2 March 2024). "F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Max Verstappen takes dominant win for Red Bull". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  7. ^ "'It's 88 missed podiums!' – Verstappen reflects on 100th F1 rostrum appearance as he praises 'fantastic' Bearman". Formula One Management. 9 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Sainz storms to victory amid drama in Australia". Formula One. 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Verstappen leads home Perez for Red Bull one-two at Japanese GP after early drama". Formula One. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Verstappen charges to victory over Norris and Perez in action-packed Chinese GP". Formula One. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Norris beats Verstappen for breakthrough maiden F1 victory in action-packed Miami Grand Prix". Formula One. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Verstappen holds off thrilling late charge from Norris to win Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix". Formula1.com. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Leclerc clinches long-awaited home win in Monaco ahead of Piastri and Sainz after early drama". Formula1.com. 26 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Verstappen beats Norris to victory in thrilling wet/dry Canadian GP". Formula1.com. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Verstappen just holds off Norris to win super-tight Spanish Grand Prix as Hamilton claims first podium of 2024". Formula1.com. 23 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Russell claims surprise win in Austria after Verstappen and Norris dramatically collide in battle for the lead". Formula1.com. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Hamilton beats Verstappen to first win since 2021 with record-breaking 9th British Grand Prix victory". Formula1.com. 7 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Piastri wins Hungarian Grand Prix as Norris belatedly hands back lead in McLaren intra-team drama". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Hamilton wins thrilling Belgian Grand Prix with team mate Russell disqualified". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Norris fights back against Verstappen to end home hero's run of Dutch GP wins". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  21. ^ "Leclerc thrills the Tifosi as he triumphs at Monza ahead of Piastri and Norris with bold Ferrari strategy paying off". Formula1.com. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  22. ^ "Piastri edges out Leclerc for dramatic Azerbaijan GP win amid late-race chaos". Formula 1.com. 15 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  23. ^ Boxall-Legge, Jake (3 June 2024). "Red Bull braced for tough Canada test amid F1 kerb struggles". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Horner blames understeer for subpar performance at the Hungaroring". F1 Technical. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  25. ^ "'I want things to be done better' fumes Verstappen after Hungarian GP as he admits Red Bull now behind McLaren". formula1.com. 21 July 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  26. ^ Noble, Jonathan (2 September 2024). "Red Bull trapped in "vicious circle" with RB20 problems". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 31 October 2024. "We've got a disconnection in balance that just isn't working," [Horner] revealed. [...] "I think Max can't lean on the rear on the way into the corner, or Checo. And you then end up compensating for that. Then you create understeer. And it's on such a fine line."
  27. ^ Schmidt, Michael (16 September 2024). "Wie schlecht ist der RB20 wirklich?". Auto Motor und Sport (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  28. ^ "Red Bull announces fan livery competition". driven.site. 24 March 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  29. ^ "Red Bull reveal special fan designed F1 livery for British GP". crash.net. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  30. ^ "Red Bull abandons F1 livery takeovers because of car weight concerns". motorsport.com. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
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