Red Bull not admit FIA handicap is hurting them – Formula One made big advances in levelling the playing field when introducing the cost cap spending limit back in 2021. The topic had been under discussion for several years, with the bigger teams resisting the change.

Yet the creation of a maximum spending limit has indeed closed the field up significantly which is evidenced by twice in the past two seasons all twenty competitors were within a second at the end of the first qualifying session.

However, other constraints were implemented at the same time as the FIA financial regulations further restrictions were established to restrict the ability of a top team running away matters.

 

 

 

F1 resource handicap system

One the evidence of 2023, this clearly has failed, yet the picture is more complex given the nature of F1’s resources handicap system. 

Formula One’s aerodynamic testing regulations allocated wind tunnel and computer fluid dynamics (CFD) capacity and it is based on the position of the teams in the constructors’ championship. This becomes a handicap to the teams with more points and the pecking order is reset twice a season.

There is a sliding scale, where the team that finishes first in the championship starts a new season with 70% of the baseline allowance, in 5% increments up to the 115% multiplier for finishing 10th, in an effort to create closer grids.

Red Bull have led the pack since the introduction of the new 2022 regulations and so de facto have suffered a 30% cut in resource allocation time to develop and measure the aerodynamic. Further, the Milton Keynes based squad suffered another 10% reduction in resource allowances following being fond in minor breach of  the spending limits.

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Red Bull early season dominance 

To prevent the teams just building up their resource allocation and spend this years allowance on next years car, the allowance is split into six periods of two month slices.

Red Bull began this season having just delivered the most dominant single year performance ever seen in the history of F1 and the early signs were they wold continue to be way ahead of the field. Verstappen won four of the first five races and only mechanical failure prevented the world champion from making it five from five.

Perez too performed well in the early flyaways, taking four podiums from five leaving Red Bull leading their closest rivals Ferrari by almost fifty points. Then came Miami and Lando Norris held out for a late safety car to claim his maiden F1 victory from Max Verstappen.

What was to come next was completely unexpected. From Miami to the summer break, Red Bull and Max have won just three of the nine Grand Prix held. Perez too went off a cliff in terms of form scoring just 46 points averaging just 5 per weekend including Sprint races and now Red Bull are just 42 points ahead of their closest rivals McLaren.

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RB20 lost speed

At the summer break in 2023, the lead the world champions enjoyed over their closest rivals was an astonishing 156, so clearly something has changed.

Speaking to motorsport.com‘s Dutch site, Red Bull chief technical director, Pierre Wache, reveals the RB20 has not lived up to expectations.

“We have undoubtedly improved the car compared to last year, although in some areas we have not quite delivered as we expected.

“Especially in the fast corners, we expected something more than what we have now.

“Without looking at the competition, so purely based on our own tools, we expected something more.”

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“weaker in fast corners”

The car no longer has its outright pace as demonstrated in Belgium, where Verstappen struggled to come through the field from his starting slot of P11. Wache reveals the areas of development which have gone well and those which have not claiming: “I don’t know if we have a strong point yet!” he said.

“I think we have improved a lot in medium-speed and slow corners compared to last year.

“We are now – relatively speaking compared to the competition – slightly weaker in fast corners than last year. Last year we were very good in that respect.

“Finally, we are still clearly weak over the kerbs, but that was also the case last year. With that, we have not made the expected step.”

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Red Bull big upgrade failed

Red Bull introduced their first big upgrade at the Hungarian Grand Prix in an attempt to establish clear water again between themselves and the chasing pack, but to date it has failed to deliver the world champions the performance they expected.

Now Pierre Wade reveals the FIA handicap system has hurt them in terms of wind tunnel and CFD time as Red Bull have less of an allowance than their rivals.

“I think some aspects can be linked to the correlation,” he explained.

“We use a relatively old wind tunnel and on top of that, we have less wind tunnel time because of our position in the championship.

“And it is also because we are in the third year of the current regulations.”

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Closer competition expected

However, Red Bull expected to find themselves with much tougher competition and were in fact surprised the challenges had not come earlier in the year.

“To be honest, we expected the competition before,” Wache explains. “At the beginning of 2022 we didn’t have the fastest car, Ferrari had the fastest car then.

“Then we expected a lot of opposition in 2023, but that didn’t happen.

“In 2024, we also expected the others from the first race, because of course the performance you can find under the same rules is limited.

“After a delay of four or five races, they still came, but to be honest, we expected that from the beginning.”

Red Bull were leading the field when the handicap was reset after the Austrian Grand Prix and so will suffer reduced wind and CFD time allowance now until the end of this season, when the next reset occurs.

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Williams mid-season driver swap for Antonelli

The relationship between Mercedes and the Williams Formula One team has shifted since the arrival of James Vowles as team principal at Grove. Whilst they remain a customer for the German brand’s power unit, they will no longer act as a ‘nursery’ for Mercedes academy drivers.

Vowles has a vision to drive Williams forward and this direction was confirmed with the recruitment of Carlos Sainz for a full time seat from 2025 onwards. The shift in relationship between the teams has created a headache for Mercedes who ideally would like to place their star academy driver, Kimi Antonelli, with Williams as they did with George Russell.

That option is no longer there for next season and while Toto Wolff recently maintained Antonelli was their “first priority” getting some time behind the wheel of an F1 car would benefit both the driver and the team in establishing his current capabilities… READ MORE