Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Wache has opened up about the reasons the team lost the 2024 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship, even though Max Verstappen successfully defended his title and secured his fourth World Championship.
The season started strongly for Red Bull, with Verstappen winning four of the first five Grand Prix and leading three 1-2 finishes, thanks to consistent performances from teammate Sergio Perez. The RB20 car appeared to be in a class of its own early on, but as the season progressed, its advantage began to fade. McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes all took turns challenging Red Bull at the front, while Perez’s struggles meant he failed to finish in the top five in the final 18 races. This ultimately led to his departure from the team, with Liam Lawson replacing him for 2025.
Despite the disappointing end, Wache explained that Red Bull had expected challenges and didn’t anticipate full dominance throughout the season. “The season was basically as challenging as we expected,” Wache said in an interview with Autosport. “We were more surprised at the beginning of the season because of the gap we had. We expected the whole season to be like the end of the season, a big fight with the others.”
However, the team was caught off guard by the sudden drop in performance in the middle of the season. This unexpected slump was a key factor in their failure to secure the Constructors’ title.
The Problem with the RB20: Correlation Issues
The primary issue with the RB20, according to Wache, was a correlation problem between the car’s design and the data from their simulations. “The car had some different characteristics than what we expected in terms of aero,” he explained. In other words, the car’s real-world performance didn’t align with the wind tunnel and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) data that the team relied on to design the car.
Additionally, some elements of the car’s design had a more significant impact on its performance than Red Bull had anticipated. “We didn’t expect some elements would affect the car performance as much as they did,” Wache admitted. “Those elements were still there at the end of the season and we have to fix them for 2025.”
Another key issue was a loss of downforce in certain areas of the car, which caused balance problems, particularly when navigating kerbs. This issue wasn’t addressed immediately due to the RB20’s early dominance, and the team didn’t want to make major changes to a car that was performing well.
Unlocked Potential and Looking Ahead
As a result of these technical challenges, the full potential of the RB20 was never fully realized. However, Wache pointed out that going back to older specifications would have been detrimental. “In Qatar, the car had the same characteristics, and we were able to win fairly,” he said. “Performance is always relative to the others.”
With a strong focus on fixing these issues, Red Bull aims to return to full strength in 2025 and regain its dominant position in Formula 1.
