What is going on with RB’s F1 downgrades?

RB looked set to be the best of the rest in Formula 1’s 2024 midfield, even overtaking Aston Martin as the fifth-fastest team. But in recent races the Anglo-Italian squad has struggled to sustain that trajectory, with its wide-ranging Barcelona upgrades sending it up the wrong path.

From grabbing solid points in Monaco and Canada, RB was nowhere in Spain as both Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo finished a lap down.

With Barcelona the first leg of a triple-header, there was little time for RB to figure out what had gone wrong and it headed to Austria mixing and matching various new and old parts hoping to find more answers.

At the Red Bull Ring trouble for Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris flattered the team as it elevated Ricciardo into the points, but it took until Silverstone for RB to have a better understanding of where its updates had gone wrong.

Debriefing the triple-header with Autosport, team principal Laurent Mekies admitted its Barcelona upgrades had actually made the VCARB01 slower and RB reverted to most of the old package, taking off its new floor.

The Barcelona package was intended to trade in some of RB’s outstanding low-speed performance for better high-speed stability, which didn’t translate into the real world. It also dealt with a fluttering new rear wing, but a temporary fix meant the more efficient wing could stay on.

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri VCARB01

Photo by: Erik Junius

“The big picture is that we had to reverse most of the Barcelona upgrade. Not all of it, but most of it, and unavoidably it cost us performance,” Mekies explained.

“We were hoping to add performance compared to where we were in Canada and Monaco, and instead of that we have to backtrack.

“We certainly understand why we didn’t go faster with it. There is some question over why it actually made us slower, because we think that’s what it did.

“The beauty of these cars is that they are extremely complex. It’s all down to the very last details and second order of things, stuff that we weren’t looking at a few years ago.

“I would say we have a fairly clear idea of what we want for the next package. Are we 100% sure? No, absolutely not. It’s a work in progress. It will take us some time.”

Much like Ferrari lost over two months of in-season car development by having to take its updates back off the SF-24, Mekies pointed out RB’s misfiring upgrades will continue to hurt the squad’s performance over the medium-term as it feeds back its findings into the next upgrade package – one that won’t arrive until after the summer break.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Ricciardo called RB’s situation a “real shifting point”, with the next few weeks deciding the trajectory for the rest of the season.

“What we learn now will basically dictate where our car is in October and November, so it’s a really important period for us,” he said.

As well as finding a different solution for its unsuccessful floor update, the team is also understood to be working on a new front wing concept after seeing the gains the likes of McLaren and Mercedes have made in that area.

“The company is flat out to try to make sure we get another update soon. It won’t be tomorrow morning, so we probably have to resist another three, four or five races,” Mekies explained.

“In our case, when you don’t hit success with one upgrade, it’s not only a matter to say: ‘OK, when is the next one?’

“You have to first understand what went wrong, so it’s a double negative effect. Not only did you not pocket the advantage you wanted, but you also have to delay the next one until you actually understand what’s going on.

“While we are waiting for that, the team is going to be still exploring how to extract more from the car. There are still some balance characteristics that we are not completely happy with and we are confident that there is more time to be gained.”

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

RB had been one of the most rapidly developing teams on the grid, kickstarted by a significant upgrade at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.

The team’s aggressive development strategy has made its first major upgrade setback easier to accept, and it is laying bare some of the areas the outfit still needs to improve.

“Of course, it’s a step back, but it’s a necessary step back. We have been extremely aggressive with development of the car since the beginning of the season,” Mekies added.

“That’s why we managed to make the progress we made, so if you run fast, sometimes you need to accept to fall.

“It’s something that will help us build a better foundation in the team to fundamentally be stronger with our development.”

In contrast to RB, Haas’ comprehensive Silverstone upgrades did hit the mark and helped contribute to Nico Hulkenberg‘s sixth place in the British GP, to push the team four points off RB in the fight for sixth.

It has livened up what looked to be a more predictable midfield battle, but Mekies reckons the small gaps between teams will continue to cause fluctuations.

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal, RB F1 Team, Alan Permane, Racing Director RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“We are certainly in that fight for P6,” he concluded. “[The downgrade] may hurt, as we have seen how Haas has continued to perform.

“You have seen Alpine going up and down, ourselves going up and down. And in the final stint [in Silverstone] Alex Albon just drove by us.

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“It’s very, very tight with Haas and probably will be tight with Alpine and Williams later on in the year, but it’s part of the game and we’ll be fighting back later on.

“Every race weekend there are still swings in performance, which means that you can still nail a weekend better than the other teams.”