How the summer downgrade saved the Racing Bulls from complacency

got a lot of attention ferrari And the cursed Barcelona floor upgrade that sent it back to the drawing board in the summer, but behind the Scuderia in F1’s midfield RB Suffered a similar fate.

After an encouraging start RB also introduced a new floor at June’s Spanish Grand Prix, an upgrade that actually slowed the car. The team paid a late price against increasing competition from Haas alpine Because it slipped behind the two to eighth place, equaling the 2023 result.

The team was also forced to make another driver change in mid-season. Liam Lawson Daniel Ricciardo took over after Singapore, but the changes didn’t stop there for Red Bull’s junior team.

While results have been stagnant in 2024, the team’s management is adamant that its mid-season setback may actually be a blessing in disguise and has reinforced the idea that the improvement that team principal Laurent Mackies and CEO Peter Bayer are pursuing. Working on it was really long overdue. And that the Anglo-Italian team could not continue the way it had developed its cars.

“We had a huge shock in Race 10. We thought we had loaded the car, but it wasn’t making the car faster. It was slowing the car down,” Mekies told Autosport.

“I think going through (it) was a necessary pain, because it really forced us to say: ‘What are we missing structurally that caused such a step back?’ And it forced us to accelerate the changes we were trying to make.

“I think Race 10 saved us from being complacent about where we were. It was a good reminder that saying the way it’s being done now won’t be good enough.”

When asked to describe what RB’s restructuring process looks like, Mackies’ explanation sounds similar to what McLaren’s Andrea Stella has done to his squad – making sure the right people are in the right places and that they have The perfect technical structure to express yourself, without any inhibitions. Getting stuck in silos or stuck in bureaucracy.

“Honestly, it’s everything. First of all, it’s a process. We’ve made a conscious effort to put our people in an environment where they can best express themselves. And that means changing structures , A change in approach, re-engineering change processes takes a little time but that is the point.

“And then what’s happening is those are the people at the center of the project, and they’re the ones who create the tools that you need, the better analysis that you need to not fall into this trap. So I can answer for you. , these are tools. But really, tools are a result of how your people are performing in their environment.”

In January, RB is also moving from its old and cramped Bicester outpost to its new building in Milton Keynes, down the road from parent team Red Bull’s premises, to serve alongside its old Minardi base in Faenza. Will replace Bicester as its UK headquarters.

“We approached the season with two parallel streams,” Mekies explained. “On the one hand we had to take the car out last year in Abu Dhabi after late development. At the beginning of the season the car was very close to the car you saw in Abu Dhabi. There has been some progress over the winter, but we have definitely Realized that it wouldn’t be enough to get where we wanted.

“And then parallel to that, you’re making quite a deep change in the structure, the way we’re operating, the processes, because we’re starting the process of building teams to do something that can target bigger fish .

“Did the Barcelona (upgrade) hurt us? Yes, it did. It took us until Race 17 or 18 to fix it and in that time you fall behind (in the competition). So I think what a necessary pain The fact is that as a group, we went through that process – accepting, understanding, healing – that is the core of our game.

“But I stress that it’s not about some silver bullet of development. It’s really about taking that approach to every single area of ​​the car. Be it tyres, starts, pitstops or anything else. But it was a really good example of how we want the core group to stick together when we face any difficulty. I really feel like it forced us to do something positive internally. Was.”

Mackies admits there will be “many more bumps of that type along the way” as the teams fight to be at the forefront of the midfield group behind Aston Martin. The team now has a full complement of approved customer parts from big brother Red Bull, including front and rear suspension as well as gearboxes, allowing it to focus on gains in other areas.

Lawson has been promoted to Red Bull’s main team isaac hadjar The team will now take the latest Red Bull Junior under its wing with the experienced Yuki Tsunoda,

Mackies says: “Is this the end point? No, not at all. We still have a long way to go in terms of improving our tools, improving our process, improving our analysis to be more protective. It would also be wrong for us to think this is just about the Race 10 update.

“The reality is that over these months, we have made progress on many other things that have nothing to do with aerodynamics that we had to take steps forward on, and we still have to take steps forward.”