Red Bull were a truly dominant force in 2023, with the team claiming victory at 21 out of 22 races. Nineteen of these victories belonged to Max Verstappen, who clinched his third drivers’ title in record-breaking fashion. Can the squad repeat this level of success? Here’s the lowdown on the reigning world champions ahead of the 2024 F1 season…
Max Verstappen #1: 3 world championships, 54 wins, 32 pole positions, 98 podiums, 2586.5 points, 185 starts
Sergio Perez #11: 6 wins, 3 pole positions, 35 podiums, 1486 points, 258 starts
Max Verstappen enters into his ninth season as a Red Bull driver with his name firmly etched into the history books. After being promoted to the team back in 2016 following a promising start to his F1 career with Toro Rosso, the then-18-year-old memorably won on his debut at the Spanish Grand Prix.
TECH ANALYSIS: Why Red Bull’s aggressive RB20 is likely to have alarmed their F1 rivals
Verstappen secured his first world championship in 2021 and followed this up with further titles in 2022 and 2023, in the process taking his win tally up to 54. With the Dutchman signed to Red Bull through to the end of 2028, those statistics could reach even dizzier heights in the future.
Sergio Perez joined the Milton Keynes-based squad in 2021, having raced for the likes of Sauber, McLaren and Force India in the years prior. Now going into his fourth campaign with Red Bull, the Mexican is looking to build more consistency in 2024 and seal his place as Verstappen’s team mate in 2025.
The 2023 season could barely have gone any better for Red Bull. They very quickly left the rest of the field in their wake, with Verstappen and Perez taking two wins apiece in the opening four Grands Prix.
Verstappen then embarked on an incredible winning streak that saw him claim 10 victories in a row between Miami and Monza. The run was broken by Carlos Sainz’s win in Singapore, the only non-Red Bull race victory of the year in what was the team’s toughest weekend.
EXCLUSIVE: Red Bull’s Pierre Wache on the team’s 2024 – ‘We didn't do an amazing job last year’
While Perez struggled to find consistency as the season progressed, Verstappen sealed the world title in the Qatar Sprint with six races left to spare. Perez ultimately did enough to help the team clinch their first 1-2 in the drivers’ championship, while the outfit took the constructors’ title with a whopping 451-point advantage over Mercedes in P2.
The outfit now known as Red Bull have their origins in the Stewart Grand Prix team, which was founded by Jackie Stewart and his son Paul. After a three-year stint between 1997 and 1999, Ford purchased the team and they became Jaguar Racing in 2000.
Jaguar struggled to make a mark in the five years that followed, leading to the Red Bull drinks company taking over in 2005. The brand had previously acted as a sponsor to the Sauber outfit before starting life as their own team.
FIRST LOOK: Red Bull unveil their new RB20 car ahead of the 2024 season
Since then Red Bull have achieved 113 race wins and 264 podiums, as well as six constructors’ championships and seven drivers’ titles.
Soon after securing their first race victory in 2009, Red Bull went on to enjoy a period of huge success between 2010 and 2013, where the winning partnership between the team and Sebastian Vettel secured four consecutive constructors’ and drivers’ championships.
However, this achievement is surely rivalled by the team’s unprecedented level of dominance in 2023, marking their third drivers’ title in a row and second constructors’ crown.
Given their staggering record in 2023, it may be difficult to find an area for Red Bull to improve in 2024. But the team will not be resting on their laurels as they look to maintain their advantage over an increasingly competitive field in the year ahead.
Verstappen has spoken of the RB19 being less strong on street tracks and this is a weakness that the squad will look to work on for their new car.
IN NUMBERS: How Perez compares to the other 11 drivers to have turned out for Red Bull
And in terms of driver performance, Perez will also need to up his game, particularly when it comes to qualifying. The Mexican often gave himself extra work to do on Sundays in 2023 by starting from a lower-than-expected grid slot, so the team will be expecting some better Saturdays from Perez in 2024.
0 comments
