“It’s a new challenge in Formula 1”: Red Bull boss says ‘very tough’ for them to develop RB19 further

Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull, is uncertain about RB19's development further in the season to stay competitive because of the restrictions that have been put on the team.

He feels that because of the less aero-testing time the team has, it will be tough for them to develop as fast as their rivals do. This indicates possible difficulties for the team later this season. F1 quoted him:

"I think it will be very tough for us to develop this car, because when you look at the amount of percentage time less we have compared to some of our rivals, it’s significant."'

"But it is what it is. We just have to do the best we can with what we’ve got, be efficient, effective, and selective in what we choose to develop, and how we apportion our time."

After Red Bull were found guilty of breaching the cost cap in the 2021 season a year later, the team was handed a $7 million fine, and along with that, 10% of their wind tunnel testing time was reduced. The wind tunnel is an important machinery for teams to test their cars' aerodynamics and develop accordingly.

To keep the sport competitive, the team that finishes at the top in a season is given the least amount of time in the tunnel, and since Red Bull finished first in 2022, their time will be reduced further.

Despite the extremely strong start that the team has had this season, Horner feels that this limited time could cause issues for the team to upgrade their challenger.

The Red Bull boss stated:

"It’s been a total cultural change over the last couple of years. It’s a new challenge in Formula 1, how you apply your resources. It used to be a sprint in terms of developing a car as quickly as you could with whatever budget you can rustle up."

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Horner feels Red Bull will have to plan their resources very carefully ahead of the season

Although the Milton Keynes-based team has been the benchmark of performance after the first three rounds of the season, their rivals like Mercedes and Ferrari are speculated to bring in major upgrades soon.

For Red Bull to maintain their dominance, it will be important for them to develop at a higher pace than their competitors, but with limited time and resources, Horner mentioned that they will have to be very careful. He said:

"Now it’s a question of how and where do you apply your resources, and of course there are so many variables like crash damage, accident damage in there that can have a massive effect on your potential to develop. It’s going to be interesting to see how it pans out this year."

While it could be potentially difficult for Red Bull to develop, as Horner believes, the current domination that the team is putting on the entire grid seems hard for anyone to compete.

So even if other teams get close to winning races or even win, the strong start that Red Bull have established with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will require a lot of work to be broken down.