Newey: RB20 a more extreme version down the same path

After an utterly dominant campaign in 2023 in which Red Bull's all conquering RB19 won all but one race, the reigning F1 Champions did not rest on their laurels, but delivered a radically changed new car in the form of the RB20.

While many thought the RB20 with its vertical sidepod inlets was Red Bull's take on the zero sidepod philosophy Mercedes failed to make work, that is not the case as it was the team's way of taking the sidepod undercut to the most extreme possible, something Newey recently confirmed.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the Japanese Grand Prix, he said: "Really the sort of architecture of the car, has stayed very similar, third generation since 2022.

"The kind of aero principles which you now see on this year's car compared to last year, it's a route that we were taking really since early 2022 and it's just a more extreme version or route down that same path.

"The whole principle including the top body is kind of extending a principle that we really started to push quite hard last year," Newey insisted.

Red Bull were one of the teams that brought an upgrade package to their car, and it was a major one which featured a new floor and floor edge, new sidepod inlets in addition to some track specific items.

Newey said of the new package and hailed the team back at Milton Keynes for delivering it, he said: "It's a credit to all the guys back at the factory, obviously.

"We've got a tremendous team of engineers, and then that spreads through to the whole organisation and their enthusiasm and drive and creativity is what you see here before you.

"We know what performance it (the upgrades) theoretically gave," the Briton added. "As far as we can see from the pressure sensors and the load cells, then it delivered what it said on the tin from the wind tunnel.

"So it was a small step forwards. I think this weekend we've have probably been ok anyway. But we all know this is going to tighten up, so we just keep pushing," Newey concluded.

Red Bull are leading the F1 Constructors' Champions from Ferrari by 21 points after four races, Max Verstappen leads teammate Sergio Perez in the Drivers' Standings by 13 points.