It is the question that is actually asked after every race: will Red Bull win all races in this year’s 2023 Formula 1 season? In Austria, they have come one race closer to this goal and have won the ninth of nine races of the season – and with Abu Dhabi 2022 the tenth in a row.
Team boss Christian Horner puts the brakes on the euphoria: “We’re grateful for every single victory we have,” he says. “This is our best run since Sebastian Vettel in 2013, where we had nine wins in a row in one season. We want to keep this streak going as long as we can, but only time will tell.”
The team first wants to tackle each race individually, and Horner at least doesn’t rule out the possibility of the big hit being possible: “Can we? Yes,” he says. “Will we? Who knows.”
Because of course there are still 13 races on the program this season, where a lot can still happen, even if perhaps no rival can catch up in sporting terms. In the past four races, Sergio Perez was not second. If anything had happened to Verstappen, another team would have won.
Reliability and weather can always throw a spanner in the works, Horner knows. “Who knows what obstacles are lurking in Silverstone now. We saw last year what can happen there.”
In 2022, Verstappen drove over debris that damaged his underbody, so he only finished seventh. “It’s little things,” warns Horner. “The team is working at an incredible level, but all it takes is a bit of weather, a bit of bad luck or a puncture and things can change quickly.”
And the past few years have shown that Silverstone is not Red Bull’s best track. The last Red Bull victory in Great Britain was more than ten years ago: 2012 with Mark Webber. “So it’s a big race for us on the calendar,” says the team boss.
Strong in all conditions
In Austria, the team was back in strong form. Even if the distance to the first pursuer Charles Leclerc was officially only 5.1 seconds, this was due to Verstappen’s late pit stop in order to still be able to set the fastest race lap. Otherwise the gap would have been significantly larger than Canada’s almost ten seconds.
“We did a very good job again this weekend in different conditions,” praised Horner. “The gap was big again and that on a track that basically has only seven corners. The engineering team did a great job as they only had one practice session.”
But while the places behind Red Bull were mixed up again – Aston Martin and Mercedes, who were still on the podium in Canada, didn’t stand a chance this time – the Bulls circled lonely in front. At least in the form of Verstappen.
“Highest level” in team history
“For us it’s a combination of a very good chassis, a good engine and an outstanding driver,” says motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, listing the factors for the current dominance. “And the team doesn’t make any mistakes at all.”
Horner has to agree: “I think we’re working at the highest level that this team has ever seen in its 19-year history,” he says. “It’s a happy time for the team and like I said, the question is how long can we keep it up.”
If the team does not run out of luck, then there is nothing to prevent Red Bull from winning every race this season. Because even if the rivals around Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin bring extensive update packages and visually change the car significantly, they don’t come much closer to Red Bull, although they only seem to change nuances.
Horner: Everyone on the team is doing a good job
Why is that? “I think that the tires are so sensitive that the performance is there when you’re in the right window. And in terms of set-up, the team has done a great job so far,” says Horner.
In general, however, the success of each individual department is to be attributed. “It’s not just about the race team, it’s about all the activities that go on behind the scenes at the factory, from manufacturing to research and development to aerodynamics and reliability,” he says.
“All the supporting functions, the roles they play, from IT to recruiting. All of those aspects have to come together and you have to work as a team and I think we’ve been incredibly strong since COVID.”
“I think it reflects the way the whole team works because the budget constraint forces you to make tough decisions in terms of development, people and retention,” he continues.
“We’ve had to say goodbye to some long-time employees over the past few months, but you have to evolve as a team and I think the culture and spirit that we have in the team drives that forward,” said Horner.
Another major constraint for the team is development time, where as a master constructor and current championship leader, you have fewer resources than any other team. This also has an impact on the fact that the car does not seem to have developed much so far.
“We are therefore aware that we do not want to compromise our performance for 2024, which is why we have had only a shallow development for 2023 so far,” says Horner. “But luckily we’ve had a very strong car since the start of the season.”
Toto Wolff: Red Bull deserves dominance
Meanwhile, the competition has no choice but to accept the dominance of Red Bull with amazement. “In the end you can’t complain, can you?” says Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff. “When a team does a better job than everyone else and just dominates with one driver, that’s because they deserve it and just did the job well.”
Addendum: “Provided, of course, that you stick to the regulations. Technically, athletically and financially.”
Because there were some doubts in the past year. Red Bull was found to have breached the budget limit, resulting in a fine and deduction of development time. Since then, many have questioned whether the breach helped Red Bull build their current dominance.
However, there is no reproach from Wolff in this direction: “I didn’t say anything.”
Nevertheless, the Austrian believes that Verstappen’s current dominance is “of course not good for Formula 1 in the long term”. “Because in the end it’s all about the product.”
Wolff does not want any outside intervention
Some have already talked about how to break the dominance of Verstappen and Red Bull, but Wolff would not want to intervene from outside: “What is absolutely fair from a sporting point of view should never be challenged,” he says. “You want people to race against each other, but we have to do a better job.”
The current model with the lower aerodynamic development is absolutely sufficient for a successful team: “It’s fine percentage steps with the wind tunnel time and the CFD capacity. And that’s all you need to do,” he says. “I think that’s in the spirit of the sport. We just have to be better.”
It is also up to Mercedes to prevent Red Bull from marching through. In Barcelona and Montreal they seemed to be on the right track, but in Spielberg they caught themselves almost 50 seconds behind Verstappen.
“I still keep my faith,” says Wolff when asked whether Red Bull can be beaten on their own, “because if I say that I don’t believe in it, then we can put everything down and put our faith in the car for next year and be satisfied with a top 10 place.”
“But you can’t do that. You have to keep working,” said Wolff. “You have to take the bad days as well as possible and try to fight back. We’ve seen races in which we were quite decent. In Montreal, the gap to Verstappen was ten seconds. That obviously looks more promising than today (in Spielberg; note . ed.).”