Reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen appeared to drive Red Bull’s new RB20 F1 challenger in a shake down at Silverstone on Tuesday – two days before the design was scheduled to be officially revealed.
Pictures and footage from the home of the British Grand Prix suggested that Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez were driving the RB20 across 33 laps on Pirelli’s demonstration tyres.
The RB20 will be used when pre-season testing begins in Bahrain on February 21, with Verstappen hinting during a livestream last week that the livery of the car will retain the look Red Bull have implemented since 2016.
Its predecessor, the RB19, led to Red Bull trouncing the field in 2023, winning 21 of the 22 races as Verstappen claimed a record 19 victories for his a third consecutive World Championship title.
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Perez, who contributed to a record total for the team of 860 points, will feature for a fourth successive season for Red Bull.
Red Bull RB20 F1 car ‘an evolution’
Speaking to Red Bull’s team podcast during the first week of February, chief technical officer Adrian Newey said he felt “trepidation” about the RB20.
“Last year took all of us – me, most of all – by complete surprise,” he added. “I really didn’t expect the domination that we had.
“This year, from what I understand, a lot of our rivals have taken a good look and I suspect there’ll be quite a few cars that look very similar to our car.
🔥 Max Verstappen, Red Bull RB20 ile piste çıktı!pic.twitter.com/xia1RgTJoQ
— Formula Türkiye 🇹🇷 (@FormulaTurkiye) February 13, 2024
“Our car will be very much a third evolution of the ’22 car. Last year’s car was an evolution of the ’22, the main points [of difference] being the normal winter development in terms of aerodynamics and some understanding on what we needed to do with suspension to try to improve the car… and getting weight out of it, because we never got down to the weight limit in ’22.
“What we don’t know is whether the third evolution is too conservative while others have done something different. You just don’t know.”
The 2024 World Championship will start in Bahrain on March 2 and take in a record 24 Grands Prix.
Verstappen, Perez and their rivals will return to Silverstone at the midway point on July 7, with the final race in Abu Dhabi on December 8.
