Red Bull “not being lethargic with upgrades” as F1 development approach explained

Red Bull have explained their approach to the development of their F1 2024 car, insisting they are “not being lethargic” with upgrades.

Rivals Ferrari and McLaren have closed the gap to Red Bull by bringing significant upgrade packages at recent races, while Red Bull have introduced smaller updates to their RB20 car which has won five of the seven races so far this season. 

For this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, Red Bull have elected to bring a maximum downforce rear wing to cope with the unique demands of the tight and twisty street circuit.

“The visual aspect of an upgrade is not necessarily indicative of its aerodynamic performance,” Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan told media including Crash.net in Monaco.

“It’s not like we’ve got a car that’s off the pace where we need to experiment with larger changes. We have a really competitive car, I think we have a really good understanding of it. We shouldn’t doubt our development process.

“We have upgrades coming. The larger the manufacturing requirement determines when we can bring it. It’s not something you react to because last week was a bit tight and Miami obviously we were beaten, the plan is in.

“We are not being lethargic with the upgrades. Once they are ready, they are on.”

When asked if Red Bull have any plans to introduce a big upgrade, team principal Christian Horner said: “I think we’re a bit more iterative. We’ve bought some pieces here and there and they’ve done what they’ve said on the tin.

“But when you start to get to the top of the curve, you get into a law of diminishing returns in terms of the amount of development that is earning it’s place on the car.

“With the cost cap we have to be very selective about when we introduce those upgrades.”

On the field converging, Horner added: “We’re in year three of these regulations and it’s inevitable you are going to get convergence.

“It’s amazing we’ve managed to stay ahead for so long. But as the cars converge in look and shape and therefore lap time, it’s inevitable there’s going to be strong competition.

“We fully expect that here in Monaco. It’s a unique layout on the calendar and it will come down to that one lap tomorrow afternoon.”