Max Verstappen has dismissed concerns around Red Bull’s radical RB20 concept, giving the new design a full vote of confidence.
After crushing the field in 2023 with 19 wins from 22 races, Verstappen is seeking a fourth straight World Championship in 2024, and starts as favourite following a strong test in Bahrain for the RB20.
Rather than simply following a trend of evolution into the RB20, Red Bull has opted for a radical design, featuring re-designed sidepods and engine cover that resemble the doomed Mercedes W14 of last season.
Red Bull felt the need to do this to allow itself more potential for development, believing its old concept had run of potential – with Verstappen placing his full trust in Adrian Newey’s latest design.
Verstappen’s trust
“I trust the team, to be honest, that they have made the right decisions in terms of choosing the right of the car,” Verstappen told media including RacingNews365.
“I saw how it was drawn last year, but I don’t care how it looks, as long as it is fast and when I saw it for the first time, fully built, [it doesn’t matter] whatever shape it has.
“I would sit in the car and once you drive out [of the pit-lane], you feel quite quickly if it feels quite normal and unfortunately, our filming day was wet so you don’t really know anything.
“But as soon as I jumped in, it felt pretty normal.
“Yes, it looks a bit different, but it is the direction that the team chose and I believe its the best direction to go into for the season.”
