Red Bull Racing is setting its sights on rectifying a key flaw in its car design as it looks to reclaim its spot at the top of Formula 1's competitive field in 2025.
After a disappointing 2024 season in which the team fell behind McLaren and Ferrari, Red Bull's engineers are zeroing in on expanding the operational flexibility of their RB21 to ensure consistent performance across a variety of conditions and circuits.
Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport advisor, highlighted the importance of developing a car with a broader operational window, avoiding the pitfalls that plagued the RB20, which became unbalanced under even slight variations in conditions.
"This car needs a wider working window so that it doesn't immediately become unbalanced when there are slight temperature fluctuations or minor technical changes," Marko wrote in his column for Speedweek.
"That's exactly what our engineers are working on."
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The current generation of F1 cars, with their complex ground effect aerodynamics, demands a delicate balance between downforce generation and overall car stability. Red Bull, like other teams, has faced challenges in achieving this harmony.
“Forty points of downforce is good, but four tenths on the stopwatch is what interests me and the driver,” Marko remarked. “The handling must be predictable for the driver so that he can build up the necessary confidence.”
Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache echoed the need for a more versatile car, particularly on tracks that don't favor the team's current strengths.
"Clearly, to have a decent car on multiple types of track," Wache said when asked about his engineering departments aim for 2025.
“So improving the low-speed [corners] and straightline speed is one of our goals."
©RedBull
One specific area of focus for improvement identified by Wache is the team's rear wing philosophy. Red Bull's reluctance to develop an ultra-low-downforce specification left them at a disadvantage on tracks like Monza and Las Vegas.
"I think it's something to think [about]," Wache added. "Maybe we didn't do it for multiple reasons, like budget and time. When you do the rear wing, you don't do anything else.
“It's clear that maybe it was a mistake. That's something we have to assess. We have to find a rear wing that is better than what we have.
“It's also not an easy task, but I think it's clear that it is something we will study, as we dismissed it this year and last year."
Red Bull is not alone in grappling with these challenges. Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Mercedes, have all struggled to manage the delicate balance between ground effect and traditional aerodynamics in the current ground-effects era.
©RedBull
For Red Bull, however, the stakes are higher after losing its dominant position on the grid.
By addressing its rear wing design, improving low-speed cornering, and broadening the RB21's operational range, Red Bull aims to give its drivers a car that not only adds downforce effectively but does so in a way that is predictable and confidence-inspiring.
If Red Bull's engineering team succeeds in these goals, the 2025 season could see the Milton Keynes squad reclaim their place at the top of Formula 1.
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