Red Bull dominate first half of 2023 season

Red bull have dominated the 2023 season with a record breaking 13 consecutive wins. Going into the second half of the season it is looking to be that Red Bull have already secured their 2nd consecutive constructors championship title and the 3rd consecutive drivers’ championship for Max Verstappen, who has won 10 out of 13 races this season. Verstappen only losing to his teammate. Red Bull dominating the first half of the season, winning 13 races in the first stint.

As a result of their overspend of the 2021 $145m budget, Red Bull were hit with a $7m fine and a 10% reduction in aero testing time for 2023. The lack of wind tunnel time doesn’t look to be affecting the performance of the RB19 as the team go into the second half of the season.

Strengths of the RB19

The Honda power unit selected by the Red Bull team, appears to be the most powerful, efficient and most importantly, reliable on the grid.

The RB19 has a lightweight chassis, unlike the previous challenger, the RB19 was admittedly overweight in the earlier portion of the 2022 campaign. The lighter chassis meaning the car is quicker than other competitors. The RB19 floor has been another key factor, the floor allowing them to run their floor flat and low to the ground, giving them an immense downforce to use for their gain.

The main talking point of Red Bull’s undeniable success this season is the teams own powerful Drag Reduction System, giving the RB19 a further advantage of two tenths of a second per lap. The power of the Red Bull DRS system was seen demonstrated at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, where Verstappen charged through the field from ninth, with a speed advantage of 30kph. Verstappen inevitably took the lead of the race, starting his series of 8 consecutive race wins up to the Belgium Grand Prix.

Besides the brilliant build of the 2023 challenger, other notable factors of the team’s success this season has to be their excellent team of engineers and the helps of Adrian Newey. Newey, who has worked for the team since 2006, appears to have again helped to build a championship winning worthy car. The hard work of the mechanics and pit crew is another factor that can’t go unnoticed, with the mechanics consistently getting the right set up on the car and the impressive pitstop times, Red Bull putting in the quickest stop of the season of 1.8 seconds of Perez at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Are Red Bull losing their dominance?

At the 2023 British Grand Prix, from the second row Lando Norris was able to get the jump on the championship leader going into turn 1, taking the lead with a better start over the Red Bull before building up a safe gap. Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren slowly putting the pressure on the back of the Red Bull. Norris continued to lead for 5 laps before Verstappen was able to make the move on Norris, the Red Bull having better pace on the straight to make a move on the British driver.

Hungary brought a few concerns that the RB19 was losing their pace advantage as Verstappen was outqualified by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton by a margin of 0.003 seconds. Red Bull had brought new upgrades to Hungary, which is said to be by Horner their last upgrades for the season. the 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton believing Red Bull have lost a chunk of pace as he takes his first pole since Saudi Arabia in 2021.

The new upgrades expected to be worth a few tenths per lap, these upgrades are said to have ‘ticked the boxes’, with Verstappen despite concerns going on to win the Hungarian Grand Prix, 33 seconds clear of Lando Norris in P2. Sergio Perez just about holding off Hamilton in. the fight for the final podium position, a battle brought questions, as the Red Bull of Perez began to lose time on Hamilton chasing behind.

Will the gap close between Red Bull and the rest of the field?

As the gap in the midfield becomes tighter and top teams like Mercedes and McLaren begin to close in on the Red Bull’s it is possible that Red Bull’s winning streak could come to end, as drivers like Lando Norris in the McLaren start to show worthy competition.

Though the RB19 appears to be capable on its own with the lack of wind tunnel time not having a massive impact as expected, as Verstappen continues to win with massive margins of 27 seconds to 33 seconds.