Red Bull has officially announced that it will not be racing with the special fan-inspired liveries at the Singapore and Austin Grands Prix, as originally planned. The decision was made due to the additional weight the paint would place on the RB20, which could further compromise performance at a crucial point in the championship.
Red Bull saves weight, no special livery in Singapore and Austin
The Milton Keynes team, after showing off the first of three winning liveries from the “REBL CUSTMS” competition at Silverstone, explained that, due to problems related to the weight of the car, it had to cancel subsequent appearances of these liveries. A decision that sparked mixed reactions among fans.
In official announcement, Red Bull said:
“When we got to the testing stage of some of the REBL CUSTMS proposals on the RB20, We discovered that the paint used to create these custom liveries added an unexpected and unwanted weight to the car’s bodywork. As you can imagine, any additional weight compromises performance, and the team is continuing to prioritise making the car as competitive as possible for the remainder of the 2024 season. As a result, It is with great regret that we must inform you that the team has decided not to use the REBL CUSTMS liveries on the RB20 at the Singapore and United States GPs.”
This announcement comes at a delicate time for Red Bull, which is facing a series of technical and performance difficulties, culminating in the loss of the lead in the constructors' championship to McLaren during the Azerbaijan GP in Baku.
Competition gets tough for Red Bull
After a dominant start to the season, Red Bull now finds itself in an increasingly precarious position in the fight for the constructors' title. The Milton Keynes team has seen its lead progressively reduce, until losing the lead in Baku, where McLaren collected precious points, moving into the lead with a 20-point advantage. In addition, Max Verstappen, while maintaining a 59-point advantage over Lando Norris in the drivers' championship, cannot afford any further slip-ups in the final seven races of the season.
Red Bull's difficulties were clearly evident in Baku GP, where Verstappen finished only fifth, while Sergio Perez was forced to retire due to an accident with Carlos Sainz during the fight for the podium. This scenario highlights the technical problems that the team is facing, as Helmut Marko also highlighted. Red Bull is desperately trying to resolve the correlation problems between wind tunnel data and on-track performance, and plans to introduce a package of updates in Texas to reverse the trend.
Drop in performance from mid-season
The season started under the best auspices for Red Bull, but suffered a sudden slowdown from the middle of the year. After dominating in the first GPs, Technical problems and a clear drop in performance of the RB20 have allowed rivals, particularly McLaren and Ferrari, to close the gap. The cancellation of special liveries to save weight is just the latest sign of how critical the team's situation is.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner expressed optimism about the possibility of a recovery starting from the Singapore GP, highlighting Sergio Perez's good performance in Baku before the incident with Sainz. However, the road to defending the title seems increasingly uphill, and the introduction of new updates may not be enough if they do not quickly resolve the problems of correlation between data and real-world performance.
With seven races still to go, Red Bull has little margin for error. The gap in the constructors' championship with McLaren is closeable, but every single detail, as demonstrated by the livery decision, could make the difference between victory and defeat. The package of updates coming in Texas will be crucial in determining whether Red Bull can return to the top or if the 2024 title slips from the hands of the Milton Keynes team.
