Max Verstappen finally said goodbye to his RB19, the unbeatable rocket-ship of a car which helped the Dutchman achieve one of most dominant campaigns in the history of Formula 1. The entire 2023 was a repetition of the same story, with Max Verstappen and Red Bull taking victories without even breaking a sweat in most of the races.
Red Bull had nailed the regulation changes in 2022 even though they were heavily penalised under the cost cap barrier. The way Adrian Newey molded the RB18 into an aerodynamic beast for Max Verstappen blew away the minds of competitors. However, Red Bull had a secret in 2023 that has been revealed recenlty.
RB18’s gearbox the unsung hero behind Max Verstappen’s success
The RB18 went away after giving Red Bull and Max Verstappen a taste of dominance, but it wasn’t in vain. Christian Horner has revealed in an interview with Sky Sports that the RB18 was sacrificed to recycle for the 2023 season.
It is ironic how some teams had to rebuild entire cars and yet, Red Bull had to merely replace some components in their new car to give nightmares of domination to the entire paddock.
Formula 1 regulations limit gearbox to 4 per season and additional change means a grid penalty for the affected driver. Red Bull were intelligent enough to carry forward their 2022 gearbox, worth $314,000 to 2023 giving Max Verstappen extra edge in competition and the Red Bull mechanics less stress about development of car.
Not only that, Horner suggested that many of the components in suspension system and chassis were retained from the RB19, making the predecessor car the unsung hero of Max’s 2023 glory.
As noted by Lewis Hamilton and confirmed by Adrian Newey, Red Bull haven’t developed their car a lot during the season and it is partly due to the perfection, with which they were to able to work on 2022 regulations and create a near unbeatable car last year.
Verstappen hails Rudy Van Buren as RB’s secret architect
Verstappen’s teammate in sim racing at Team Redline, Rudy Van Buren joined Red Bull in 2022 as simulator driver for the team and used to test the Red Bull cars virtually in order to develop them as per the preference of the drivers.
Max Verstappen highlighted his underrated role in the team as Red Bull’s secret developer, “I explained my feelings of what I need from the car. What is really good about Rudy, everyone has their own driving style in his simulator or in real life as well, but he can also put himself in someone else’s driving style and knows what that person particularly needs from the car. And I think that’s why he’s such big value as well on the simulator.”
Max Verstappen values his team a lot and it is an important trait of his which gives him an edge over other competitors. Verstappen even brought in a new performance coach for himself in 2024, with his eyes set on the coming Formula 1 season.
What are your predictions about the Red Bull ace’s next season in F1? Will he defend his title or will there be another champion in the pinnacle of motorsports?
