Copying alone not enough to help rivals catch up in F1

In the wake of Red Bull’s total domination of F1 in 2023, it is anticipated that its competitors will converge on the concept that the Milton Keynes-based team has put to such good use since the latest ground effect era started. 

That should, in theory, help deliver a much closer battle throughout the 2024 season with much of its main opposition having gone the wrong way with their car designs last year. 

But Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache thinks that other teams will need to go further than just trying to repeat what his squad has done.

He suggests that more important to unlocking speed is getting to the bottom of why it has done things the way it has. 

“I think it’s possible to copy, but in every business in the world, when it’s technical, the ‘how’ is one aspect,” he told Autosport. “The most important aspect is ‘why’.  

“If you don’t know ‘why’, you can copy whatever you want, but it’s better to stay with what you understand.” 

Wache said that copying other teams’ ideas was commonplace in F1 and something his squad did from time to time. 

However, while it opened the door to potentially make progress with your own car, there were also no guarantees that something which worked for a competitor would benefit others. 

“We also copy some stuff,” he said. “We [might] copy the wrong thing, but you [also] inspire yourself based on what you see from others.  

“It’s like a Darwin effect, this business. You see something from others, you add another idea to it and you develop and you grow your concept, your strengths and your capacity.  

“But, every time, it has to be on the understanding aspect. If you just copy for copying’s sake, it doesn’t work.  

“You [need to] have the knowledge and also what you want to achieve. If you don’t have the same golden aim of characteristics, it doesn’t bring anything.” 

Wache also thinks that it wrong to label last year’s RB19 as the perfect car, as he said there were elements to it that needed to be improved. 

While it won 21 out of the 22 races over the course of the season, he is clear that performance in F1 is relative to others.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Pierre Wache, Race Engineer, Red Bull Racing, Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing, in the garage

“You can have the same car and the others do a better job…