Former F1 strategy engineer Bernie Collins feels Red Bull may have been trying to flummox their rivals by using a dummy car at the RB20 launch. Several elements on the team’s 2024 F1 car resemble those on Mercedes’ W14, which went the whole of last season without notching a single Grand Prix win.
Eagle-eyed F1 fans noticed that the RB20 presented at the launch event included vertical sidepod inlets and a bulging cooling arrangement similar to Mercedes’ W14, which trailed miles behind last year’s Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.
Sergio Perez admitted it was ‘brave’ for Red Bull engineers to head in a different direction after wiping the floor with their competition last year. But Collins feels the whole thing may have been a ploy to throw their rivals off the scent of how the RB20 will truly look at the Bahrain Grand Prix early next month.
“I think maybe years in F1 have made me suspicious, so let’s see the car that rolls out on Day One in Bahrain because I’m not sure it’s going to be that car,” she told the Sky F1 podcast.
“This could just be a little joke. Yeah, I am highly suspicious but let’s see. If they do rock up with that car, then it’s a brave, brave move because they could have easily continued to develop the car they had.
“That would have been, I think, the safer bet. I’m not surprised that they’ve been looking at it in the wind tunnel and not surprised that they’ve been experimenting with if they can get more out of it.
So wide was the gap between Red Bull and the chasing pack, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claims his primary focus will be on maintaining superiority over Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin, rather than taking the fight directly to Verstappen and co.
“Our aim is to consolidate our positions towards Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin and be in the forward part of that group,” said the Austrian. “And at the same time trying to race at the very front.”
