F1 News: Helmut Marko delivers early Red Bull verdict on new car

F1 car, hidden, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

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Red Bull F1 chief delivers early verdict on new car

The team are unveiling their new car later on Thursday

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 15 February 2024 13:57

Helmut Marko has delivered some cautious optimism ahead of Red Bull's 2024 car unveiling, suggesting that the car is simply an evolution of their highly dominant 2023 challenger.

The RB19 car from last season claimed 21 of the possible 22 race victories, allowing Max Verstappen to dominate the sport in what team principal Christian Horner described as the 'most successful car of all time'.

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Red Bull are set to release the follow-up to that car later on Thursday, in a live stream on their YouTube channel, amid what has been a difficult winter break for the team.

Horner himself has been accused of 'inappropriate behaviour' and, although he 'completely' denies the claims, is the subject of an internal investigation surrounding his conduct.

Whatever the result of that investigation, it is expected to last quite some time, potentially into the start of the upcoming season.

Red Bull head into 2024 hoping to defend their world championships

Helmut Marko and Christian Horner have worked together at Red Bull since 2005

Christian Horner is currently the subject of an internal investigation at Red Bull

Marko: We had the best package

Now Marko, who has recently suggested that the team's thoughts are solely on attempting to defend their world championship titles, has given his view on the RB20 car design.

He believes that radical changes were not needed, like some of his challengers have implemented in an attempt to catch the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

"This [the performance] will be shown next week during the tests in Bahrain," the Austrian said in quotes reported by The Independent.

"What can already be said is that the new car is an evolution from the previous year’s car, and we had the best package.

“If we eliminate the few weak points, not much should actually go wrong. But who knows: Maybe a competitor has succeeded in a special trick in the development.”

Red Bull Max Verstappen Christian Horner Helmut Marko