James Allison reveals his first thoughts upon seeing RB20 F1 car
James Allison has revealed his first impr🗹essions about the design of Red Bull's 2024 F1 car.
Mercedes F1 technical director James𝓀 Allison has revealed his initial thoughts upon seeing Red Bull’s radical RB20 carꦬ for the first time.
Red Bull raised eyebrows when they launched a ‘brave’ and ‘innovative’ RB20 car ahead of the 2024 season, featuring a number of drastic visual design changes compared to its dominant predecessor, t♒he RB19.
Team principal Christian Horner said at the launch 💧of the RB20 that his team had “pushed the boundaries” with their latest F1 car design.
And Mercedes chie꧂f Allison has commended Red Bull for not playing it safe with the development of the﷽ir 2024 car.
“Well, mostly I thought that when a team’s out in front as they have been, it🔯’s quite easy to rest on your laurels,” Allison toওld media including in Bahrain.
“I thought bravo to them for being willing to do something that’s not just a straightforward iteration o♛f the previous season. That’s what I mostly thought.”
Among the most surprising changes to the RB20 include a couple of features that are reminiscent to the design of last year’s Mercedes - the W14, which f🦋ailed to win a race in 2023.
Asked if there is any vindication for Mercedes seeing Red Bull move in a similar direction with🌺 some areas of their car, including the shape of the RB20’s engine cover, Allison replied: “No I don’t think so.
“I think you could go up and down this pitlane🌄 and take the engine cover shape off every car on the gr🦂id and plonk it on any other car on the grid and it wouldn’t make a hill of beans difference.
“What will be interesting is what will ജbe underneath that engine cover, what are they using that volume for. But that external ཧshape is neither here nor there.”
Allison admitted that Mercedes will be “in chasing mode” for the foreseeable as they seek to catch Re🍸d Bull.
“I’d sa꧃y that we knew on the first day of the test that we’d cured the unpredictable rea⛄r end,” he said when asked what Mercedes deduced from pre-season testing.
"We also knew on the first day of the꧋ test that Red Bull were out in front. So we’ll be in chasing mode for the foreseeable.”
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