Do you innovate, or do you say you innovate?

?Red Bull Racing dominated Formula One last season in a way no team ever had. ?The RB-19 (Red Bull's 19th F1 car) won 21 of 22 races to set a new mark for consistency.? Lead Driver Max Verstappen was responsible for 19 of those 21 wins, including a record 10 in a row, and became the first driver in F1 history to lead 1,000 laps in a single season (he led 1,003 of a total 1,325 laps or 75% of the season - commiserations to Lewis Hamilton fans). ?Verstappen posted a hat trick - taking pole position, the race win, and fastest lap – a record six times.? He outscored his teammate Sergio Perez by 290 points, also a new record, and Red Bull beat second-place Mercedes by a massive 451 points in the constructor’s title – the largest margin in F1 history by, well, a large margin.? Red Bull and Verstappen also set historic marks in total points amassed by a constructor and driver in a single season.? It was simply the most dominant F1 season ever.

With no change in the sporting or technical regulations for the 2024 season (see below) you’d expect Red Bull to roll out an updated version of the RB-19 and look to continue winning.? No.? Not in F1, and not with Red Bull – a team that feeds on innovation.? Red Bull may win again this season, but with a very different car.

Each of the ten F1 teams unveiled their 2024 challengers over the past two weeks. ?As expected, many of them looked strikingly similar to the all-conquering RB-19 (and why not, we know it works!).? But there was one notable outlier - the RB-20.? Red Bull elected to take a significant departure from the RB-19’s proven design concept.? As BBC Sport commentator Andrew Benson noted after Red Bull revealed the RB-20, the overriding irony of the 2024 F1 lineup is “the car that look[s] least like last year's Red Bull [is] this year's Red Bull.”

The team called the RB-20 an “evolution” but noted that they were extremely aggressive in both building on last year’s strengths and addressing last year’s weaknesses.? They know full well their rivals will close the performance gap, particularly with stable regulations.? Those teams have been chasing the RB-19 for a year, and with the power behind them and competitive nature of F1, that gap will close.? What Red Bull have done is move the target further ahead, in essence telling its rivals that if they are able to match the RB-19 they will still be behind.

The team chose two major design changes for 2024. ?Red Bull’s Chief Designer Adrian Newey completely redesigned how air will flow over, through, and under the RB-20.? At the front, the radiator intakes are now fed by vertical slats below the primary sidepod intakes which frees more air to flow down the side of the car to improve downforce performance.? The RB-20 also has two large intakes above the driver’s head feeding relatively clean air into the car’s cooling system.? At the back, large shoulders running along the car’s spine create huge channels for air to flow towards the rear of the car and include massive vents vacating air from, well, that’s not clear yet.? The overall concept is reminiscent of the zero-sidepod concept abandoned by Mercedes two years ago as a complete failure, but perhaps now perfected by Red Bull.? Newey is famous for challenging established norms and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.? Has he produced another masterpiece?

The other teams seem to think so, if pre-season testing is any indication.? Normally it is quite difficult to understand a team’s true speed in testing because of the many variables that impact overall performance which are unknown to anyone outside the team- fuel load, engine mode, performance settings, and so on.? And teams often disguise their true speed in testing to avoid tipping their hands.?

Last year there was no doubt who would win the constructor’s championship following testing, such was the performance of the RB-19, disguised or otherwise. This year seems little different, even though Red Bull did not set the fastest time in every test session.? Verstappen’s fellow drivers again have little doubt about which team is in front this season.??

“They are definitely a step ahead of everyone else," said Mercedes' George Russell. ?"They are definitely the team to beat," concurred McLaren's Oscar Piastri, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc added: "My initial feeling is that Red Bull remains the reference and ahead for now."

Two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso agreed: “At the moment, we just have to watch them and see how they perform…[but] I think 19 drivers in the paddock now will think that [they] will not win the championship.”

No one would have questioned Red Bull had the RB-20 been a simple “evolution” of the RB-19 rather than the revolution it appears to be.? Indeed, Red Bull probably could expect good results (and save boatloads of money) by simply racing the RB-19 this season.? But good is clearly not good enough for Red Bull.?

Many organizations talk about striving for greatness, never resting on their laurels, and similar mantras.? Red Bull is living it and showing us how (and why) they do it.? Red Bull is showing a deep understanding of how to win in F1 and the desire to push beyond their own boundaries.? As an organization, are you talking about innovation or living and breathing it as a fundamental part of your identity?

The innovative RB-20 may dominate another F1 season.? Lots of folks out there would love to see it fail. We’ll see.? The cars take to the track in anger for the first time this weekend.? 24 races will decide the driver’s and constructor’s championships.? But if you judge organizations based on their relentless need to innovate and determination to win by constantly improving everything they do, Red Bull have already won.

About F1: If you are new to F1 it is largely regarded as sports’ most complicated and competitive racing series.? The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), Autosport’s governing body, periodically issues a series of technical and sporting regulations describing the minimum requirements and limits of a car that can compete in F1.? Constructors and engine manufacturers are then free to design and build a car that fits within those limits and compete for the world title.? F1 teams employ super-computers, armies of engineers, wind tunnels, simulators, etc. to design and build the fastest cars on the planet and compete over 24 races (this year) to decide who has the best car and driver.? In a sport where the average difference between pole position and starting second is .286 seconds, innovation is required.