Red Bull are surprised by some of the ‘very interesting’ innovations that Mercedes brought to pre-season testing ahead of the 2024 F1 season.
The all-new W15 sets about improving on a car that has been marred by setup deficiencies and a lack of stability for the last two years.
It’s part of the reason why star driver Lewis Hamilton is without a race victory since 2021 and is now off to Ferrari for next season to embark on a new journey.
One feature that stood out was their three and a half front-wing element design, which will be almost impossible for other teams to copy this year.
Red Bull themselves took inspiration from Mercedes’ old sidepod design and seems to have found a significant benefit with it.
Pierre Wache is Red Bull's technical director and helps lead the way on their design frontThe RB20 looks to be the class of the F1 2024 field currentlyThe Mercedes W15 - which has been substantially changed from its predecessor
“I don't know if they understood what we did, but I think they understood from what I saw in the development of their cars,” said Wache.
“Even if it's not exactly the same path, because I'm sure we are not right everywhere, they have found their own path in the sense that you develop a tool, or certain paths of development, based on the issues you have and based on your understanding.
“So maybe they have found some other stuff that could be very interesting. To make it be able to work with three and half flaps on the element on the front wing [like Mercedes] is interesting by having more outwash.
“They have found a different path. I'm not sure they know exactly what we did, because if you just copy without understanding, for me it's useless, but all the competitive people in this business are following a path for their benefit."
The season opening Bahrain Grand Prix should give everyone an understanding of how much ground Mercedes have to make up this year before they can compete for victories.
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
GP JAPAN
5 - 7 Apr
GP CHINA
19 - 21 Apr
GP USA
3 - 5 May
GP ITALY
17 - 19 May
GP MONACO
24 - 26 May
GP CANADA
7 - 9 Jun
GP SPAIN
21 - 23 Jun
GP AUSTRIA
28 - 30 Jun
GP GREAT BRITAIN
5 - 7 Jul
GP HUNGARY
19 - 21 Jul
GP BELGIUM
26 - 28 Jul
GP NETHERLANDS
23 - 25 Aug
GP AZERBAIJAN
13 - 15 Sep
GP SINGAPORE
20 - 22 Sep
Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024 
Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024 
Qatar Grand Prix 2024 
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024 
Innovatieweg 20C