Red Bull introduces the RB20 to the world

The main package during the 2023 F1 season was Red Bull’s RB19. Last year’s challenger led the team to its second consecutive constructors’ championship, while Max Verstappen won his third consecutive drivers’ title. Red Bull won all but one of last season’s Grands Prix, with Sergio Perez also finishing second in the drivers’ championship.

So…the RB20 has some huge tires that need to be filled.

Red Bull introduced the RB20 to the world Thursday through a streamed event. The livery looks very similar to what we’ve seen from the team in the past (as hinted at by Verstappen during a recent livestream).

Most notably, Red Bull did not display the RB20’s sidepod inlets, leading to speculation that the design would be a departure from the RB19.

Adrian Newey also attended the launch event and spoke about his F1 journey and time at Red Bull. Newey, the team’s chief technical officer, is considered one of, if not the greatest, engineers in F1 history.

And now it’s time to meet the RB20. Verstappen and Perez took to the stage alongside team principals Christian Horner and Naomi Schiff to showcase the RB20 for the first time.

“The whole team put together a great concept,” Perez said. “It should be another great season for the team.”

For Horner, the RB20 is an “evolution” of last year’s dominant RB19.

“You can see it’s an evolution of last year’s car,” Horner said during the streamed event. “But as our 20th version, they have not been conservative. You can see that they have been very aggressive in certain areas and are still pushing the boundaries.

“We recognize that our opponents will still be pushing very hard. There are some cars being released that are similar in theme to what we launched last year. So behind the scenes You can tell that all the men and women there work very hard, and some of the details on the car are very exquisite.”

Subsequent images suggest the presence of a vertical cove.

The announcement came amid turmoil within Red Bull. Horner is facing an internal investigation into “inappropriate conduct” initiated by the team’s parent company, which is being investigated by outside lawyers. There has been speculation in the media about this alleged behavior, but what is known is that Horner took part in a lengthy interview in London last Friday and that an investigation is ongoing. Mr Horner denies any wrongdoing.

It is unclear when that investigation will be completed.