Redbull go into the new year as the clear favourite to win both driver and constructors championships once again, after their dominant display last year. But will their 2024 title campaign be as dominant as what we saw last year?

Finlay McSporran
Published: 16:02, 21 Jan 2024

While Redbull dominated the 2023 season, they weren’t invincible, as we saw in Races such as Singapore and Vegas. The gap was even closer over one lap with Ferrari taking 7 pole positions last year despite their poor race performance. They were also challenged by McLaren and Mercedes towards the end of last year. But can these teams find a bit more pace to get them closer to Redbull and start winning races?

Ferrari

On their day Ferrari were easily the second fastest car last year, however that day didn’t come anywhere near enough as they lost out on 2nd in the championship to Mercedes. Ferrari had the fastest car in a straight line last year which helped them claim pole position at circuits like Monza and Mexico.

However, the car struggled from high tyre degradation which cost them a lot in the races last year, which is something they’ll need to improve on. Early signs are looking positive however, with their 2024 car being “seven tenths quicker than last year” according to formula.planet.

But the main thing that they need to improve on is consistency, as they had the fastest car over one lap in Vegas, but were 4th fastest at circuits such as Qatar and Hungry last year. If they can improve on that then they should be fighting for race wins a lot more regularly this season.

Mercedes

2023 was another disappointing season for the silver arrows, as despite finishing second in the teams standings they failed to win a grand prix for the first time since 2011. Despite never looking like race winners, Mercedes were the most consistent of Redbulls challengers with Lewis Hamilton taking 6 podiums throughout the season.

The team recently re-singed their Technical director James Allison, showing that they still have faith in him despite the recent lack of performance. They’re reportedly pursuing a different technical direction from one they debuted for the 2022 rules change in the hope they can return to winning ways this year.

McLaren

McLaren ended last year on high as they took multiple podiums throughout the second half of the season after a slow start in Bahrain. The upgrades introduced at Silverstone transformed the McLaren from a backmarker to a podium contender. After the upgrades, the McLaren was regularly Redbulls closest challenger, picking up 9 podiums and a sprint race victory on their way to 4th in the standings behind only Mercedes and Ferrari.

McLaren seem to be hyping up their 2024 campaign, calling it their “new era” and launching their new livery far earlier than any of the other teams. With a new wind tunnel, solid driver line up, new simulator and new technical team McLaren have no more excuses and need to hit the ground running this year if they want any chance of keeping up with Redbull.

What About Redbull

Despite having a near perfect season last year Chief Technical officer Adrian Newey believes that there’s still room for improvement. Redbull hardly introduced any upgrades to the car throughout the 2023 season and its rumoured that the upgrades planned for last years car will be implemented on this years, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown saying that it could be “an unpleasant surprise for all of us.”

Whatever happens, 2024 will be a test for all the other teams to see if they can catch up to Redbull which should hopefully provide us fans with a far more exiting season than last year, as teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren close the gap to Redbull.

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