Red Bull eye Japanese Grand Prix to move towards their Mercedes-like zeropod concept - Reports

Red Bull will reportedly use Mercedes' old 'zero pod' design philosophy on their RB20 from the 2024 F1 Japanese GP.

The RB20 was revealed earlier and though the livery looked the same as the RB19, there was a significant difference in the design of the car, especially the sidepod. The pods looked flatter, somewhat similar to the much-criticized 'zero pod' design Mercedes used in the 2022 F1 season.

Although the pictures of the car could be deceiving, a report from Motorsport states that the team is planning to move towards a zero pod concept. From the Japanese Grand Prix, reportedly, Red Bull will be using a sidepod resembling Mercedes' W13.

Mercedes struggled with this design philosophy throughout the 2022 season and for some parts of the 2023 season as well. Their cars were unpredictable and extremely slow compared to their rivals. The W14 had the same design concept, however; they changed it in the 2023 Monaco GP.

The RB20 is still expected to have a sidepod initially and not go into the exact 'zero' pod definition. It will reportedly be combined with a vertical inlet like the Mercedes.

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Red Bull team boss comments on allegations against him

Christian Horner, the team principal of the Austrian team, has been accused of behavioral misconduct with his employees.

An internal investigation was earlier launched regarding the matter. However, a decision is still pending. It is expected that the final report on this issue will take a few weeks to be formed.

Horner had largely remained silent about the allegations, but he broke the silence earlier, denying the allegations. The Mirror quoted him as saying:

"I’m confident in the process and working with the process. I deny absolutely any allegation that has been made against me and yeah, you know it’s… I just continue to work within that process until it's concluded."

He then spoke about his dedication and commitment to Red Bull.

"Look I’m absolutely committed to this team. I’ve been here since the beginning, I built this team, and there’s been highs and lows along the way as you’ve seen in some of the videos that you’ve seen earlier."

"We’ve won 113 races, we’ve won seven drivers’ world championships, we’ve won six constructors’ world championships in 19 seasons, and that’s in the history books now but it’s what lies ahead that’s always important."

Red Bull will head into the 2024 F1 season as the defending World Champions. Max Verstappen won his third consecutive championship last season.