Red Bull chief engineer cautious: 'Maybe they are faster than us'

During free practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Red Bull might show how good the RB20 is compared to the competition. It is the day of the first free practice sessions of the season, and that means the teams may be showing off for the first time. Red Bull made lots of changes over the winter. Chief engineer Paul Monaghan explains what to expect this year.

The RB18 became faster on track as the season went on, resulting in a drivers' and constructors' championship. By 2023, it was soon clear that Red Bull had made a huge step, and no one would come close to the Austrian team.

Whether that is the case again this year, we will have to wait and see. Monaghan thinks Red Bull has made a step comparable to the one between 2022 and 2023 in terms of speed, telling GPblog and others: "We can probably put more downforce into this car if we wanted to. It's whether it behaves itself on track. So your aim is to give yourself a platform from which you can work towards lap time, not necessarily a headline downforce figure. In terms of the magnitude of step, it doesn't actually matter, does it? It's just where we stand relative to our opposition and the lap time of currency."

Red Bull faster than other teams?

Whether the other teams will lag behind, Monaghan dare not say: "It might be that they're quicker than us, so it might be our step has undershot. Complacency would be the wrong thing for us to do. We have tried to make a decent step with this car, which is comparable to 22 into 23."