The numbers don’t lie. The Red Bull RB19 is the most successful car in Formula 1 history. Out of the 16 races run so far this season, the RB19 has only lost once. The title-winning car also showed stunning single-lap pace racking up 11 fastest laps and nine pole positions. Red Bull Racing has already clinched the World Constructors’ Championship and Max Verstappen is on pace to end the drivers’ title race this weekend in Qatar.
CNN purports that the Red Bull RB-19 and its near-immaculate 2023 season were the result of a perfect storm of man, moment and machine. The energy drinks giant’s team found the sweet spot when new technical regulations were introduced in 2022. The RB18 and the succeeding RB19 exploit the reintroduction of shaped ground effect floors with undersides that run up against the track surface to produce prodigious levels of downforce. Red Bull has plenty of praise to heap on Adrian Newey, the team’s legendary chief technical officer, for leading development on these machines.
The Honda power units propelling the Red Bull chassis have also proven to be the most powerful on the grid and bullet-proof reliable. The team has only suffered a single mechanical retirement during a race over the past two years when Sergio Perez had a gearbox failure during the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix. F1 journalist Edd Straw told CNN:
“It is not just the consistency of performance, but the consistency of how well it works across such a wide range of conditions, corner speed profiles and tracks. It’s a car that just works pretty much everywhere.”
Of course, Red Bull’s operations didn’t have a spotless reputation going into the season. The FIA, the sport’s governing body, found that Red Bull exceeded the newly implemented cost cap during the 2021 season by $2.2 million. As a result, the team was fined $7 million and faced a forced reduction in aerodynamic testing for 2023. It’s scary what Red Bull could’ve done on track if they weren’t penalized.
Max Verstappen has already broken the single-season wins record with 15 victories so far. While the Dutchman has beaten Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the record books, it will be years until we’ll know how fondly this season is remembered by fans.