'Challengers should think about whether there is anything to gain still'

It is normally the team with a good lead in the championship that can start developing next year's car earliest. With Red Bull Racing so strong, it might also be useful for challengers to bet early on 2024 and let 2023 go. We asked F1 analyst and former F1 engineer Ernest Knoors.

No ultimate drive for P3 or P4 at challenger Red Bull Racing

Red Bull is so strong that it seems unbeatable in the hands of Max Verstappen in 2023. Further development has been made difficult for the team because of the wind tunnel penalty, yet Red Bull is holding up very well and still managed to win every race this year. Knoors expects work on 2024 to start early.

Knoors: "I think it will happen very soon. It has everything to do with the rules about allocating how much time you can spend in the wind tunnel. If you don't finish as high in the championship you get more wind tunnel time. So there is also not really a very high drive to make that ultimate effort for P3 or P4."

Wind tunnel time more important than money

According to the F1 analyst, there is a tension between the prize money you earn and wind tunnel time. A higher ranking in the final standings makes more money and helps with the budget, but the high ranking also gives less wind tunnel time. Knoors: "The teams like Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari, with all due respect, that last ten million they earn more doesn't matter to them."

"It's much more important for them that they can fight for P1 the year after," Knoors continued. "That's a lot more important than fighting for P3 or P4. These teams are, I think very quickly going to look at; is there anything left to get this season? If not, Full focus on next year. I think Red Bull is going to do that too once they see that they are going to drive into the championship with reasonably little effort, they will go for 2024. They obviously have the disadvantage of having a little less time in the wind tunnel, but they have the advantage of starting on a much better platform than the competition."