F1 News: Mercedes failure raises Red Bull questions claims F1 team chief

Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing, Bahrain, Testing, 2024, social — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Mercedes failure raises Red Bull questions claims F1 team chief

The RB20 features some Mercedes-style designs that were scrapped by the team

Tyler Rowlinson

Sunday 25 February 2024 10:57

Helmut Marko has admitted that Red Bull have questions over their Mercedes-style design for 2024 after the concept failed for their rivals.

Following their domination in 2023 with 21 wins out of a possible 22, the RB20 was one of the most highly anticipated car launches ahead of the new season.

But fans and pundits alike were surprised to see that their new challenger featured Mercedes-style gulleys on the engine cover, as well as their ‘zeropod’ design on the sidepods.

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After failing to win a race with the components in the W14, Mercedes scrapped the design, and Marko has said that the defending champions are also concerned as to whether their gamble will work unlike their opposition.

The RB20 features Mercedes-style designs from the W14

The concept was scrapped by the silver arrows after failing to win a race

Helmut Marko has said Red Bull are concerned about whether they will struggle with the design like their rivals

Red Bull questions over Mercedes-style design

Speaking with ServusTV the Austrian said that the team got “ideas” from Mercedes, but that their concept is “not as extreme” as what they went with last year.

The parts did “very well” in the team’s simulation according to the 80-year-old, but he stressed that Red Bull may too have been tricked and they could struggle just as Mercedes did.

“They were also convinced by the data of their sidepod concept,” he said. “In practice, it didn’t work at all.”

“And we will now see in the tests whether we can successfully implement this solution, or let’s say a similar solution.

“Adrian Newey would always like to have cars without radiators. Of course, that’s not possible for the engineers [to carry out the idea], but it’s logical,” he added.

Red Bull Mercedes Helmut Marko