The 2023 Formula 1 season will be known in history for being the year that Red Bull dominated the competition with Max Verstappen and the RB19.
Records were broken and reset with the driver and team combination, with Verstappen propelling himself up to third in the all-time win list on 63 victories which is just 28 wins off Michael Schumacher.
Red Bull’s RB19 became the most dominant car in F1 history by taking 21 victories out of a possible 22 races, giving it a 95.45% win percentage. Previously it was the McLaren MP4/4 from the 1988 season which held the record at 93.8%.
Even Mercedes at the height of their dominance with the W11 could not match the consistency of the RB19, as they turned up to each race comfortably 20+ seconds ahead of the competition.
The team blew everyone else out of the park, with only Carlos Sainz managing to win a race when they took to the streets of Singapore. The RB19 only struggled with the 90-degree corners, with Verstappen placing as high as sixth place.
Discussing the season in an interview with Motorsport.com, Red Bull’s race parts and lifting controller, Ed Hemsworth, dwelled on their record-breaking season and made a remark that should have some in F1 feeling ashamed that it was even made possible.
Red Bull rivals should be ashamed after mechanic says winning in 2023 was ‘too easy’
Red Bull’s wins were almost a foregone conclusion throughout 2023, barring any sort of reliability problems.
There was hope among fans that Verstappen or Sergio Perez would struggle with grid penalties, but that was quickly put to rest when the Dutchman started sixth for the Belgian Grand Prix and went on to secure his eighth win in a row.
Hemsworth said the team began to realise that each race that they could win it with ease, knowing the competition was left playing catch up after getting their car concepts wrong in 2022.
“In 2023 we were so good that it got a bit easy. The car was inherently quick everywhere we went — we rolled it out the door on Friday morning and we’d be 20 seconds up the road,” said Hemsworth.
“Now we’re fighting every week, but it’s good for everyone because the [competition] is what keeps us all here.”
F1 teams eventually catch up to Red Bull in 2024
Fixing a problem on an F1 car is not the work of a moment, which is why Red Bull’s gamble on changing its concept for the RB20 in a bid to stay ahead threw up its own problems in 2024. It is a testament to the development rate of other teams that the RB19 would have struggled to make Q3 in 2024.
The team started the year well by winning three of the four opening races by comfortable margins, but it was before everyone else introduced their upgraded concepts.
McLaren was the first team to truly show some progress when Norris could challenge for the win at Imola, with Verstappen only fending him off by seven-tenths at the line. The Briton would go on to become a title contender, although a series of mistakes from Norris would ultimately cause him to miss out on the Drivers’ Championship.
Their consistency while Red Bull worked backwards to solve problems on their car enabled them to take the Constructors’ title, while the Milton Keynes squad dropped back to third in the competitive order.
In many ways, it’s a product of the current regulation cycle that these teams were able to make progress and eventually cut Red Bull’s advantage. Background politics also played their role, with Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull being a hammer blow to the team.
But for Red Bull internally to think F1 was ‘too easy’ throughout 2023 and effectively rewrite the history books, the teams only have themselves to blame.
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