Andrea Stella, the Team Principal of McLaren, expressed admiration for the bold redesign undertaken by Red Bull with their RB20 model.
Stella commended Red Bull for the courageous modifications they introduced to the RB20.
Earlier this month, Red Bull showcased a significantly altered design for their car in preparation for the new season, after a dominant performance last season where they won nearly every race.
The team based in Milton Keynes has implemented substantial changes, particularly to the side pod area, featuring slender inlets, a concept that bears a resemblance to Mercedes’ unsuccessful design in 2022.
Having secured a significant lead over competitors last year, Red Bull was in a position to shift its focus to developing this new model much earlier than its competitors.
This has positioned Red Bull as a top contender for the forthcoming season, with Stella admitting his surprise upon seeing the revamped design.
Stella said to the media; “I have to say when I saw the car, I was like ‘Wow’!.
“They certainly were brave to change in some of the shapes that made that car so successful last year.
“Like I said before, I think they could enjoy such an advantage last year that it gave them the confidence from a timeline point of view to take some risks because they can take these risks early on to actually see whether it works.
“What I would say though is that while there is innovation that we can see microscopically, in these regulations a lot is in the millimetres and a lot happens in work we don’t see between the underneath of the car and the ground.
“So while what we can actually see could be the most visible, it’s not necessarily the most impactful in terms of the step forward they made.”
Red Bull emerged as the frontrunner during the initial day of pre-season trials in Bahrain, with Max Verstappen leading the pack by a significant margin.
Last year, Stella did not hold back in expressing his worries about Red Bull’s strategy to divert attention to their vehicle prematurely, noting that the RB19 saw minimal updates.
In response to inquiries on whether his apprehensions were coming to fruition, Stella remarked: “I would say [there are] two elements.
“First of all, car design. There’s some element of significant evolution on that car that certainly required time to be developed.
“The second element is the performance itself – it looks like they are very strong.
“So it looks like what they wanted to achieve from a design point of view also delivered what predominantly seems to be aerodynamic performance.”
