Red Bull accepts RB20 has not lived up to the expectations

Pierre Wache has made an admission which is enough to sum up Red Bull's current plight. The team's Technical Director has revealed that the RB20 has not lived up to their expectations, and it's no secret that the defending champions have been struggling in the Constructors' Championship.

Red Bull's last race win came back in late June, four races ago. This is staggering considering that the last time they experienced something of this sort was back in 2020, when Mercedes was supremely dominant.

The Austrian team's lack of progress has also seen their lead in the Championship shrink. McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes appear to be gaining on them significantly, and Max Verstappen and company have struggled to keep up.

Wache, speaking to Motorsport.com about Red Bull's issues, stated that the RB20 struggles in multiple sectors depending on the track type, such as in high-speed corners, and on kerbs.

"Especially in the high-speed corners we expected a little bit more than what we have," Wache said. "Without thinking about the competitiveness of the car, so just based on our own references, we expected a little bit more with our tools."

"We were a little bit weaker in the high-speed corners compared to last year relative to the competition. In kerb riding, we are clearly weak, but we were already last year. I think we didn’t make the improvement we expected in that aspect," he further added.

Currently, the RB20 is the third fastest car on the grid after the McLaren MCL38 and Mercedes W-15. The two Britain-based teams have made big progress, claiming a total of five victories in quick succession.

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Red Bull engineer explains RB20's recent struggles

Max Verstappen at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix (Source: Getty)

While Red Bull fans and F1 fans, in general, continue to wonder how the defending champions are continuously falling behind, Pierre Wache has an answer. The team's Technical Director has indicated that the fairly old wind tunnel and reduced time in the wind tunnel are possible reasons behind this.

"We are using quite an old wind tunnel and it can also be linked to the reduced capacity due to our position in the championship [with the ATR testing restrictions] and maybe also the fact that this is the third year with this type of regulations," Wache explained.

Red Bull can use only 840 hours in the wind tunnel to experiment with their RB20, whereas rivals like Mercedes and Ferrari can use 900 and 960 hours, respectively. McLaren is enjoying the most among the top four teams, with 1020 hours of wind tunnel time.

The FIA allotted such time on a sliding scale based on last year's Constructors' Championship standings. As Red Bull Racing were the champions, they were allotted 840 hours, whereas Haas, who finished last, is enjoying 1380 hours of wind tunnel time.