Last Updated on October 12 2024, 11:31 am

Formula One over the years has seen cycles where a team dominates the sport although in modern times it has become even more prevalent. Red Bull were invincible during the final four years of the V8 engines winning constructors’ and drivers championships for four consecutive seasons (2010-13).

Mercedes then took over the mantle, winning both titles for a record seven consecutive years (2014-2020) and the constructors’ the year Max Won his first title (2021). Red Bull then cleaned up in 2022 and 2023 but this year find themselves 41 points behind McLaren with six race weekends to go.

Should the papaya liveried team go on to claim the constructors’ title this year, it will break a cycle of dominance which has seen either Mercedes or Red Bull win the team championship for the previous fourteen years.

 

 

 

Red Bull key advantage for ground fact cars

While Red Bull challenged Mercedes successfully in the infamous drivers’ series in 2021, the real boost to their current dominance came with the introduction of the new ground effect design cars (2022). Their guru consultant designer had written his engineering thesis on ground effect some forty two years earlier and joined F1 with the Fittipaldi team in the middle of the last ground effect car design era, moving on to March for the final year before it was banned.

Newey knew what to expect and understood how cars which rely on the underfloor to produce a significant amount of down force, were inherently unstable. Adrian was asked when exactly he knew the RB18 had met the challenge of the new FIA regulations, he replied: “I knew she was born well after just 10 testing laps.” 

“We had an amount of bouncing, not as bad as the other teams, but we still had some bouncing which we needed to get on top of, and I think had a reasonable understanding of what we needed to do to do that.

“So come the first upgrade we had for the Bahrain race, then bouncing was much less of an issue than it was for other teams. And that meant that we didn’t have to put a lot of our development energy into fixing bouncing, such as Ferrari and Mercedes did.”

The Grand Prix now labelled “a scam and not profitable”

 

 

 

Diminishing returns kick in

Such was the difficulty for the rest of the F1 teams to crack the ground effect conundrum set by the FIA, the likes of Mercedes took a development path with red them up a blind ally. This allowed Red Bull to build on their superiority in 2023 and produce the all conquering RB19, now the greatest F1 car in history.

Yet there were signs the tide was turning. From Austria onwards in 2023 McLaren came back from a shocking start with just 17 points from the first eight races. They scored more points than anyone other than Red Bull over the second two thirds of the season and Lando Norris scored more than anyone but Max Verstappen in that time frame.

As Red Bull swept all before them, paddock talk turned to the notion of ‘diminishing returns.’ Red Bull indeed had stolen a march on their competitors but with stable regulations for three years, there was less new stuff for the world champions to learn – and the rest of the field was learning what they already knew.

Yet the expected closing off the performance gap appeared not to arrive for 2024 as Red Bull and Max Verstappen won seven of the first ten Grand Prix. This may well prove enough to see Verstappen home to its fourth world title particularly as McLaren have proven to be lacking in ‘race toughness’, incapable of making decisions that would have Norris ten points closer to Max as it stands.

Ricciardo returns

 

 

 

Newey role ever changing

Whilst Newey stepped back from the role of Technical Director at Red Bull some six years ago and in the interim has acted as a drop in consultant, working part time and giving input only where he feels it is obviously lacking.

Yet the ground effect decision by the FIA in no doubt handed Red Bull a huge advantage over its rivals, given Newey’s thesis and his experience with Fittipaldi and March F1 teams in 1981/2.

Newey has taken technical teams which are nowhere and delivered new personnel and structures which have gone on to win multiple F1 titles, something Mattia Binotto is attempting to do with Sauber/Audi at present.

The seemingly everlasting merger between the long standing back of the grid F1 team and the German auto manufacturer has now been entrusted to the former Ferrari team principal.

“Newey was leaving anyway,” says Horner

 

 

 

Audi steal Red Bull sporting director

Whilst Audi release occasional bland but PR worthy press releases on the state of their power unit development, little is said of the Sauber facilities in Hinwii. By all accounts they are dilapidated, using out of date production machinery and lacking processes to effect changes quickly.

Williams are underway with such a transformation and team boss James Vowles is never shy of updating the media on their progression towards the 21st century. Audi by contrast appear to be leaving the chassis side of things to Sauber, who have James Key as their technical director.

Audi recently resolved the infighting between Andrea Seidl and Oliver Hoffman by sacking the pair and appointing Mattia Binotto as the overarching chief. In turn he has poached Red Bull’s Sporting Director, Jonathan Wheatley, as team principal.

McLaren have also pinched Red Bull’s head of strategy in Will Courtney, although Red Bull are likely to insist he sees out his contract until the middle of 2026.

Albon calls on FIA to change tack

 

 

 

Binotto calls “the end” for Red Bull

“[I am] happy for Jonathan’s arrival,” Binotto now says to Corriere della Sera. “We have followed a similar path to different teams. His hiring is an important signal.”

The former Ferrari boss appears to take a swipe at Red Bull suggesting the organisation at present is unstable and for “guarantees” staff now need to look elsewhere.

“If he has come to us, it is because he has guarantees. As for Red Bull, well, cycles have a beginning and an end, always in F1. I think Red Bull are at the end.”

Whether Red Bull is at the end of their dominant cycle or not, only time will tell. Yet the reality Binotto is missing is Wheatley had no route to becoming team principal at Red Bull, which is the real reason he bailed out and moved to Audi. So its not ‘proof’ of an era’s end but a signal change is in the air.

Steiner SLAMS McLaren decision

 

 

 

RBR restructure ongoing

Red Bull are now enacting a revolutionary restructure as Christian Horner recently explained. The problem is that structures appropriate for teams pre cost cap era, are proving unwieldily with too many chiefs in the middle management.

All this is driven by the fact each team can exclude its top three remunerated employees from the budget. This then drives a situation where another team is recruiting someone not in the top three to be in their top three (eg team principal), which leaves the current employer with no ammunition to respond.

When asked about the recent departure of Rob Marshall to Aston Martin, Horner explained. “Rob was as focused on other projects in recent years, and the offer that McLaren made is probably half their [cost] cap!” Horner said, “You can’t blame him for wanting to go and do that.”

Horner spoke about teams being tempted to replace one experienced hadn’t with ten juniors, it seems more bang for the buck, but the reality has been the cost cap has seen the once mighty teams shed some of their management, while smaller teams now with more money have actively pursued their services.

Red Bull may be experiencing a comeback from their competitors along with something of a slump for Max Verstappen who hasn’t won since the Spanish Grand Prix. Retaining the drivers’ world title would be a save for the team from Milan Keynes, but unless they’ve worked magic in the second break of the season, McLaren look favourites to be the first team other than Red Bull or Mercedes to claim an F1 constructors’ championship since 2009.

New Red Bull car details revealed

 

 

 

Toyota back door F1 entry

Toyota announced the decision to join Formula One for the first time back in 1999, they were approved six months later to become the twelfth F1 team on the grid for 2001. However, the Japanese organisation decided to defer their entry by a year which then saw them forfeit the $11m deposit they had made.

Given the Japanese company’s lack of European single seater racing experience, a number of eyebrows were raised in the paddock when Toyota decided to enter as a full works outfit, rather than partnering with a specialist race team and/or chassis manufacturer.

Reportedly with one of the biggest budgets in F1, Toyota hoped to start life in F1 with a bang but the reality that was to ensue was quite different. The team scored a point on debut at the Australian Grand Prix but this was gifted to them by Ralph Schumacher running into Rubens Barichello and the pair subsequently eliminated half the field… READ MORE