According to Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull’s new RB20’s ambition demonstrates that the team isn’t willing to sit back and is determined to defeat its opponents in this year’s championship.
Alongside Max Verstappen, Ricciardo drove for the team before moving on to work for Renault and McLaren. He’s had a close-up look at the vehicle that looks sure to win the 2024 championship now that he’s back in the Red Bull fold at the sibling RB team.
Red Bull had won all but one of the races in the previous year, and rival teams had been hoping to close the gap. However, it’s obvious that they aim for a perfect year based on the amount of improvements shown on the new car during testing this week.
When asked if he was taken aback by Red Bull’s decision to make so many changes to an already-dominant vehicle, Ricciardo replied, “I laugh because I’m surprised, but I’m not.”
“They’re a team that performs best when they’re winning,” Ricciardo said in Bahrain to Motorsport.com. “It seems like they want to simply utterly destroy the opposition when they’re winning.
He went on, “It’s not like, ‘Okay, now we’re winning, let’s go on holiday.'” “Let’s really put our feet down,” the thought goes. I believe they have emerged in that area this year.
“Now that they’ve had the most successful season since ’23, I think even I was like, ‘Wow!'” he said. They seem to have received more upgrades than anyone else, which is rather significant.
He said, “As a fan, I just love to see that kind of relentless approach and response to such a strong year, whether I’m part of the family or not.” It’s almost as if you had to respect it.
“I know obviously fans watching on the couch, they’re like, ‘Nah, I want someone to challenge Red Bull this year,” he said. “However, you have to respect their methodology.”
Adrian Newey, who was always present in pit lane during the testing to ensure that his most recent creation was performing to the highest standard, was commended by Ricciardo for his technical leadership.
“I adore seeing Adrian close to the vehicle,” Ricciardo remarked. “I don’t even feel bad singling Adrian out – I know it’s more than just Adrian, but he’s obviously a big part of it and it’s pretty cool to see.”
Ricciardo refrained from making any predictions when asked if he thought the new vehicle might win a clean sweep of Grand Prix races this season.
“Considering how many races there are and whether you get a wet race or not, it seems almost impossible,” he said. “F1 is not invincible; it is too unpredictable.
“It’s too early to say for sure that it will be as dominant as last year, but I’m convinced it will still be a race-winning vehicle.
“I think they’ll do very well but yeah, it’s too early to have that confidence,” he said. They are going to win races, no doubt about it. However, I wouldn’t suggest that it will be invincible just yet.”