The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, shared his thoughts about Red Bull's radically changed RB20 car concept.
Red Bull managed to surprise everyone with the car they introduced during the launch on the 15th of February. Many were so much in disbelief and even questioned whether it was a real car that we would see on the track, but it turned out it was.
Red Bull's 2023 challenger was the most dominant car in the history of F1. The team from Milton Keynes won 21 out of 22 races of the season, so it seemed like the best step for Red Bull would be to continue developing the same concept.
However, instead of evolution with lower risk and lower upside potential, the Austrian team chose a path of revolution, which is associated with higher upside potential but also much higher risk. Speaking to Austrian Channel ORF, Toto Wolff said about the RB20:
"An extremely courageous step. Because if they had proceeded conservatively, they would have developed a really good car further."
As a team principal of the rival team, Wolff also understands how the development works and so he suggested the data must have pointed Red Bull in this way.
"However, the data is leading in the development of the car, and the data has probably shown that these developments of the new car produce significantly more downforce or better driving behavior. Otherwise, Red Bull would not have done it."
Red Bull has had the dominant car for the last two seasons, and after the pre-season testing in Bahrain, it seems that 2024 might have a very similar outcome.
The Mercedes team principal also applauded the team from Milton Keynes for being so innovative in the last couple of seasons as he added:
"And they have always been innovative in recent years, they were the team that was the benchmark. And in that respect, I'm convinced that they knew what they were doing."
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