That smile from Lambiase
On the first day of winter testing in Bahrain Max Verstappen he drove all day, thus baptizing the Red Bull RB20 characterized by laterally branched air intakes to reduce the number of slits as far as possible, positioned as per tradition at the entrance to the sides. The Dutch driver was very fast in relation to the times set by the other drivers and the smile of track engineer Gianpiero Lambiase after a remarkable lap with C3 rubber immediately became an image of another hypothetical season dominated by Red Bull.
Taking a design risk with the RB20 is proving to be a saving grace for Red Bull given that Ferrari has highlighted notable growth from the SF-24 compared to the performance of the SF-23. The Milton Keynes team achieved almost everything there was to achieve in terms of pole positions and points in the first two rounds of the season, only the fastest lap in Saudi Arabia signed by Charles Leclerc was missing. On paper the RB20 has great margins for improvement and could grow more exponentially than the competition, but Verstappen declared that the RB20 does not represent such a clear discontinuity compared to the RB19 which won 21 of the 22 races held in 2023.
“I immediately felt at ease behind the wheel of the RB20, I would say that it is an evolution of the RB19 – explained the three-time world champion interviewed by the French sports newspaper The Team – I drive the RB20 more naturally than the RB19 and it's a great feeling. I immediately understood that it was a fast car because it was balanced and it was easy to immediately set a fairly quick timed lap.” The 2023 Red Bull struggled especially on street circuits and the RB20 was designed with the clear intent to improve in slow corners. Obviously there are still some aspects to fix: “All cars have weaknesses – added Verstappen – as they are were the street circuits for the RB19. Regarding the RB20, we have driven on too few tracks to identify them clearly yet, but these are details.”
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