Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan has revealed that the team’s 2024 challenger, the RB20, will be their ‘last big roll of the dice’ before the 2026 technical regulations come into effect. This will inspire hope for Lewis Hamilton and future team Ferrari as they look to develop their way back into World Championship contention.
The Milton Keynes-based team have enjoyed unprecedented levels of success during the ground effect era, following up Verstappen’s last-lap World Championship triumph in 2021 by producing back-to-back title-winning cars in the RB18 and RB19.
With the RB20, the reigning champions look to have produced another challenger worthy of claiming both World Championships. However, with the 2026 technical regulations looming on the horizon, Red Bull are facing difficult decisions.
Addressing future development plans, Monaghan explained: “If we choose to make some bigger changes on the car it opens up more options for us. That’s part of our reason to say ‘Let’s go ahead and change it more fully’. It’s probably the last big roll of the dice because into 2025 you have to be looking at the 2026 car.”
Monaghan also expects the team’s development gains to diminish as we head further into the 2024 season. “At the moment gains are still there,” he added.
“Magnitude-wise at the moment we can find similar gains to last year. I suspect towards the end of the year it may well diminish a bit, but we’ve got some brilliantly creative people and if they find it, then we’ll take it. It’s as simple as that.”
This will serve as a boost to Hamilton and his future team Ferrari. While Mercedes are too far back to be contenders in the Brit’s 12th and final season at Brackley, the Italian constructor look much more competitive and have a solid base from which they can develop.
The Scuderia have scored podiums with both drivers during the first two rounds of the 2024 campaign and if their aggressive development trajectory bears fruit, team principal Fred Vasseur may be tempted to go the opposite route to Red Bull, developing deep into 2025 and giving Hamilton a shot at glory during his first season in red overalls.
Hamilton should take inspiration from Red Bull’s own trajectory. After watching the legendary Brit dominate with Mercedes, Verstappen managed to put together a title-winning campaign during the final year of the regulation period in 2021. His hunt for an eighth Drivers’ Championship crown is not yet over.
