Red Bull Chief Addresses RB20 Upgrade Questions As 'Simpler' McLaren Threatens Championship

Red Bull chief Christian Horner addresses technical issues with RB20 upgrades while McLaren poses a threat to the championship.

Christian Horner, Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, speaks at the Red Bull Fan Zone, a private event at Oracle headquarters, on Wednesday October 18, 2023. / Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Red Bull Racing is under increasing scrutiny as the team grapples with ongoing issues with their RB20 car, in the face of rising competition from McLaren.

Team principal Christian Horner has recently addressed the pressing concerns about the RB20's performance setbacks and the threat posed by McLaren's seemingly simpler and more effective car design.

After the summer break, Max Verstappen reverted to the older floor concept at Zandvoort, and the Austrian team also experimented with various floor specifications at Monza. Unfortunately, the new floor has yet to deliver the expected performance, with ongoing problems plaguing the team.

Horner has yet to confirm if the latest floor specification will be permanently shelved but acknowledged a need to examine every aspect of the car due to significant balance issues. He explained to the media, as quoted by GP Blog:

"No, not yet. I think you've got to look at all aspects of the car. There's a balance issue with the car that isn't allowing the drivers to commit to corner entry. So as soon as you've calmed down the rear, you do that by compromising the front."

The current iteration of the RB20 suffers from instability at the rear, which hampers corner entry commitment. Efforts to stabilize the rear have resulted in front-end issues, leading to understeer and accelerated tire degradation. Horner continued:

"You end up with understeer, and then you kill your tire that way.

"What we need to do is really get the map into focus.

"If you look at the McLaren, it almost looks like an evolution of last year's car. A much simpler car than ours. Perhaps we [the RB20] have gone a little too complex."

Verstappen has not held back with his verdict on the current RB20. He commented to the media after the Italian Grand Prix:

"Last year we had a great car, which was the most dominant car ever, and we basically turned it into a monster.

"I’ve said a lot, yeah. And now it's up to the team to come with a lot of changes with the car. We basically went from a very dominant car to an undriveable car in the space of, what, six to eight months. That is very weird for me. And yeah, we need to really turn the car upside down.

"Yeah, I mean, it doesn't matter. With how we are at the moment, we are bad everywhere. So we need a lot of changes. At the moment, both championships are not realistic."