F1 world champion declares how teams can END Red Bull domination

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F1 world champion declares how teams can END Red Bull domination

Rosberg declares why other teams MUST copy Red Bull for 2024

Janice Kusters

Sunday 10 September 2023 17:57

Nico Rosberg predicts closer competition in 2024 as teams mimic Red Bull's design philosophy. He cites McLaren's success as proof and urges other teams to follow suit.

This year, several teams, including Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin, faced accusations of drawing inspiration from Red Bull's car design, albeit with varying degrees of success.

Mercedes, for instance, made adjustments to their car by adopting aspects of Red Bull's initial sidepod design, discarding their own Zeropod concept. Meanwhile, Aston Martin's car appeared remarkably similar to Red Bull's at the start of the season.

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Ferrari, despite vehemently denying it, introduced adjustments to their sidepod design that bore a striking resemblance to Red Bull's design shortly before the Spanish Grand Prix.

According to Rosberg, Christian Horner, Red Bull's Team Principal, believes that the competition in the upcoming season will be much closer due to other teams emulating their design philosophy.

During a discussion on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, the former German driver stated: “Christian Horner was telling me after the race that he thinks everything is going to be much closer next year because everybody is just going to copy their car.”

Rosberg strongly advocated that other teams should follow suit, saying: “I think all teams need to do that, understand exactly what Red Bull is doing there and probably just go down that route as much as possible.

“Which is what McLaren has done to some extent, and it just worked wonders for them straight away. So, all teams are going to be trying to do that.”

Rosberg suggests McLaren's design resembles Red Bull's, resulting in immediate improved performance.

Chasing the Bulls: other teams racing to catch up

While most other teams are expected to exhaust their resources in an attempt to catch up to Red Bull, the Milton Keynes-based outfit remains determined to maintain its lead.

Their primary focus has already shifted towards the development of their 2024 car, with the Hungarian Grand Prix upgrade likely having marked their final package for this season.

This is in part due to the fact that the team needs to plan carefully how to allocate its wind tunnel development running.

Any additional upgrades will only be pursued if they also contribute to the development of the 2024 Red Bull, as careful planning is required to allocate their wind tunnel development resources effectively.

This allocation challenge arises partly due to Red Bull's mid-season championship lead, which has resulted in them receiving only 70 per cent of the baseline allocation. In contrast, Mercedes will receive 75 per cent, Aston Martin 80 per cent, and Ferrari 85 per cent.

In addition to the established limit, Red Bull is burdened with an extra 10 per cent reduction in their operations due to the penalty imposed for breaching the cost cap last year.

Given this substantial disparity in wind tunnel resources, it is likely that the other teams have a somewhat easier time catching up to the Bulls. However, given the considerable ground they still need to cover to thwart another year of Red Bull's complete dominance, it's unlikely that any of them rest easy at this thought.