Red Bull were imperious on the track throughout the 2023 season as they won 21 out of the 22 Grands Prix, with Max Verstappen cruising to his third consecutive F1 world title. But Ferrari aerodynamics chief Enrico Cardile may have let Red Bull’s secret out the bag after insisting the Austrian team introduced a “new technology”. And his insight could provide a boost to Mercedes, who will be aiming to design a car that can compete for silverware in 2024.
After Auto Motor und Sport suggested to Cardile that some teams may have downsized their brake calipers, the Italian said: “I don’t think the other teams have smaller calipers. This is a so-called open-source component. If a team changes something, they have to share the CAD design plans with everyone else. We can see them.
“Of course, we also study photos. As far as I can tell, the size of the brake calipers is almost the same for all teams.
“Red Bull has introduced a new technology this year that differs from what Mercedes and we have been using for several years. It may be that these new calipers bring a weight advantage. You have to look at that.
“But whether the part is a millimetre bigger or smaller makes no difference. Red Bull is the best example of the fact that there is an all-rounder. You just have to work hard and have the right goals.”
The Red Bull car has proven to be vastly better than rival vehicles since F1 introduced a whole host of regulation changes ahead of the 2022 season. And the only other driver to win a Grand Prix in 2023 apart from Verstappen and Sergio Perez was Ferrari star Carlos Sainz, with Silver Arrows duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell well off the pace.
“This car is going to go down in the history books as a very, very special car,” explained Red Bull chief Christian Horner in November. “To have won 21 races out of the 22… just missing out in Singapore leaves room for improvement. But I mean, what a year. I think more than anything, for all the men and women behind the scenes back at the factory, across the whole business, all the support staff as well have made this happen. They’ve played their role in making and delivering this car and operating it.
“We’ve had 22 different venues, we’ve won at 21 of them. There’s been rain, wind, all kinds of conditions and strategy. It’s just been the most phenomenal year and everybody can take a huge amount of pride in what they’ve achieved.”
