According to statistics, the vehicle is the best Formula One vehicle ever created. Christian Horner explains the major advantage the RB19 possessed over its 2022 predecessor.
After winning both titles in 2022, Red Bull successfully defended both, winning five out of six sprint races and 21 of 22 grand prix during the season. As a result, they finished with 860 championship points and the Drivers’ championship, their first-ever one-two finish.
The RB19 has been hailed as one of the greatest cars of all time, ranking alongside the McLaren MP4/4 from 1988, the Ferrari F2004, and the Mercedes 2020 W11. Horner has explained that the nearly perfect sweep of victories was largely due to a significant weight reduction.
Horner on the greatest secret at Red Bull
“What you have to remember is that with the RB19, there were a large number of components that came from the RB18: gearbox, a large percentage of the suspension, and half of the chassis,” Horner told the press.
For this year, it was essentially a cut-and-close situation.
“The weight was the most important issue we managed to resolve.
“Because of that championship battle, we were so slow to adopt the new regulations in 2021 that the car in 2022 was a little bit hefty.
“We were able to remove 20 kg from the automobile at the beginning of this year and fix a few minor issues.
“There were a lot of spare pieces that were left over, and some of them—in Max’s case, 19 races this year and 15 last year—have actually won 34 races combined.
“You couldn’t remove the weight in a single region. All in all, it was merely slight progress.
“I think that was probably the fundamental difference between the 2022 car and the 2023 car.”
