Red Bull completely dominated the 2023 F1 season as it clinched back-to-back constructors’ title by winning 21 of 22 grands prix — but 2024 has not been as kind.

Though the Milton Keynes-based squad still leads this year’s championship, the competition is much closer and Red Bull has won half as many races compared to this stage last season.

Aston Martin, McLaren and RB are amongst others to have big performance differences, so how does each team compare after 14 rounds in 2023 to after 14 rounds in 2024 with F1 currently in its summer break?

Red Bull

The RB19 is statistically the most dominant F1 car ever, as it won 95% of grands prix in 2023 which included a record-breaking 14-race winning run to start the year.

That means, at this stage last season, many wondered if Red Bull could go unbeaten due to its advantage over the rest of the grid with Max Verstappen as its leading driver. Eventually it didn’t though, as Carlos Sainz won the season’s 15th round in Singapore.

Red Bull’s rivals then made gains over the off-season, while its technical director Pierre Wache told Autosport that the RB20 “didn’t deliver what we expected”. So, despite a strong start with seven wins in 10, the signs were clear that Red Bull’s advantage was no longer significant — especially when Verstappen won in Imola by less than a second.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing, pole man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

It has culminated in Red Bull failing to win the final four grands prix before the summer break and although Verstappen leads the championship, his team-mate Sergio Perez is seventh and the only driver inside the top eight to not win a race.

So, even though Red Bull is still first in the championship, it is 175 points worse off than it was after 14 rounds in 2023 with seven fewer victories and nine fewer podiums.

McLaren

McLaren has arguably made the biggest gain over the last 12 months, as this time last season it was fifth in the championship with only two podiums in the opening 14 grands prix. Lando Norris was eighth in the standings without a grand prix victory to his name, which is something Oscar Piastri didn’t have either as he was contesting his rookie campaign and had made a steady start in 12th.

But in 2024 McLaren heads into each race gunning for victory with the quickest car at certain tracks and both drivers have become grand prix winners — Norris in Miami and Piastri in Budapest. This is the first time for 12 years that McLaren has scored multiple wins in a campaign, after making impressive staff changes over the off-season that included signing engineer Rob Marshall from Red Bull.

McLaren is second in the championship with 366 points, 251 more than this time last season, and on 12 podiums. So, the team firmly believes that it is in a title fight against Red Bull, as the British squad is just 42 points behind with 10 grands prix and three sprint races remaining.

McLaren’s improvement has perhaps masked the work of Frederic Vasseur at Ferrari, as the Scuderia is 117 points better off than this stage last season with two more victories — Sainz in Australia and Charles Leclerc in Monaco — despite remaining third in the standings.

So, looking from afar it might seem like Ferrari has stood still, especially when its form has tailed off slightly with three podiums in the last six after hitting a development plateau. But it has still been a season of progression for the Scuderia, which in Australia scored its first 1-2 for two years amid a strong start to the season that included eight podiums in the opening eight rounds, culminating in Leclerc’s emotional home win.

That continued a disappointing two years for Mercedes, who had just one victory — the 2022 Brazilian GP — since the turn of the ground effect era. But, it gradually improved as the Silver Arrows stood on the podium in Canada and Spain before Russell’s shock victory in Austria, where he took the lead with seven laps left after Verstappen and Norris collided.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

Photo by: Erik Junius

Mercedes won the following weekend’s British GP as well, which ended a win drought of almost three years for Hamilton, whose previous victory was the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. The Silver Arrows continued its upward trajectory by fitting upgrades for the remaining rounds before the summer break and Hamilton scored a podium in Hungary before claiming another win at Spa-Francorchamps.

In Belgium, Mercedes actually finished 1-2 on the road but a post-race disqualification for Russell, who had an underweight car, gave the win to his team-mate. Those victories now mean that, despite Mercedes being seven points worse off than this stage last season, it has collected more wins, poles and podiums with the team being just as quick as the championship top three.

Aston Martin

So, Aston Martin is 144 points worse than this stage last season and has a 193-point deficit to Mercedes. The silver lining being that sixth-placed RB is 39 points behind, so Aston Martin is in its own league sitting fifth in the championship. 

RB

RB — then known as AlphaTauri — had an extremely disappointing start to 2023, as Red Bull’s sister squad was bottom of the championship after 14 grands prix with just three points. It improved in the latter stages though, as the Faenza-based squad scored 22 points in the final eight rounds after taking gradual floor upgrades and fitting the RB19’s rear suspension.

The team has carried that form into 2024, as RB has 34 points after 14 grands prix and is four places higher in the championship than it was at this stage last season. RB is currently on a magnificent run of 10 point scores in the last 12 grands prix, which includes a fourth-placed finish for Daniel Ricciardo in the Miami sprint race.

Haas

Haas is another team to have made a better start, as the American outfit is one place higher in the championship having scored 16 more points than it did at this stage last season.

That included double points scores in Australia and Austria, with the Red Bull Ring featuring its joint-best result of sixth for Nico Hulkenberg which was also his finishing position at Silverstone. Hulkenberg is scoring most of Haas’ points though as the 36-year-old, who is due to depart for Sauber at the end of 2024, and has 22 points compared to Kevin Magnussen’s five, with the Dane also set to leave.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24, Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The team’s improved form comes after it changed its boss over the off-season, with Ayao Komatsu replacing Guenther Steiner while Haas has also taken the correct development paths throughout this campaign.

Alpine has significantly declined compared to last season, as 11 points for the French squad means it is 62 points worse off and two positions lower in the championship. The team made a solid start to 2023, which included shock podiums in Monaco and the Netherlands, but it could not keep up that form as Alpine finished the year in sixth, 160 points behind Aston Martin yet 92 ahead of Williams, having changed its management structure midway through.

The team then undertook a complete redesign of its car for 2024, but that largely backfired as Alpine started the year with various problems like traction and too much understeer. This resulted in Alpine scoring zero points across the opening five rounds, but upgrades have since helped the team improve and it even claimed back-to-back double scores in Canada and Spain.

But, Alpine is still one of the worst teams on the grid with its drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon respectively sitting 15th and 17th in the standings.

Williams

Williams has also had a more difficult start to 2024, as just four points for the team means it has 17 fewer than at this stage last season. The British squad is also two championship positions lower in ninth, as Alex Albon said “we’ve got a better car than last year, but so does everyone else”.

There is still a positive atmosphere at Williams though, as the team has signed three-time grand prix winner Sainz for 2025 who will replace the struggling Logan Sargeant. Williams is building for the regulation change in 2026, so is focused on developing the team and its infrastructure over the coming months for a successful transition into the new rules.

Sauber

Sauber has been the most disappointing team of 2024, as it is bottom of the championship and the only constructor to not yet score a point. The Swiss squad is simply struggling for all-round pace having failed to improve over the off-season as much as its rivals.

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber C44

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

This has caused concern at Audi, who is set for a full takeover of the squad in 2026. Right now, much of the chatter at Sauber is about Audi’s impending arrival who have hired ex-Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto to lead the team.

That’s still a long way away though, and both Sauber drivers are currently fighting for their F1 futures, as the contracts of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu expire at the end of this season with neither yet to sign an extension.

On the Tuesday before Silverstone’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a handful of media are welcomed into the Jochen Rindt building. It is the location on the Red Bull Campus in Milton Keynes where Red Bull Powertrains and Ford are working away with hundreds of employees on Red Bull’s own engine project for 2026.

That year, both the engine and chassis regulations will undergo a major overhaul in F1. On the engine side, the MGU-H will disappear, but the percentage of electric power will go up considerably to an almost fifty-fifty split with the internal combustion engine. The V6 has to run on sustainable fuels.

PLUS: The key ingredients changing as F1’s 2026 engine war shapes up

Just as big a change for Red Bull is that Honda leaves as its engine partner that year. Currently, all Red Bull Racing and RB engines are still produced in Japan. But as Honda will join forces with Aston Martin, Red Bull has taken its fate into its own hands by creating its own engines, for the first time in its 20-year existence.

As the energy drinks giant faces its biggest challenge to date, Red Bull Powertrains is offering a rare look behind doors that are normally closed.

The day starts with a reception in MK7, the building where many Red Bull cars from previous F1 seasons are on display. After that it is time to head over to the Red Bull Powertrains facility, where Christian Horner and Ford Motorsports chief Mark Rushbrook explain that work on the building started early 2022.

Work on the ICE section (internal combustion engine) began first, followed by the ERS department early this year, dealing with the electrical components of the engine that will become even more important under the 2026 regulations.

After we are told that it is strictly forbidden to take photos — with work in full swing — we walk towards ‘Brodie’s Boulevard’. 

This hallway is named after Steve Brodie, one of the first employees to come over from Mercedes HPP in August 2021, who played an important role in setting up the Powertrains facility. His official title is ‘Head of Power Unit Operations’, which means Brodie is in charge of the ICE and ERS build shops to make sure Red Bull-Ford build it to the correct specifications, standards and consistency.

Red Bull Ford Powertrains

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

One of the engines can be seen immediately upon entering.

«This was the very first combustion engine we made,» Horner explains. «The fire-up of this V6 was in August 2022. Dietrich Mateschitz was able to hear this first ever Red Bull engine just before he passed away. After his death, we decided to label all our engines as DM, so Dietrich will always be at the heart of Red Bull cars.»

Horner adds that after initial talks, the engine on display also played a role in convincing Ford to join the project when negotiations between Red Bull and Porsche broke down.

Rushbrook explains: «When it became clear that it wouldn’t work for Red Bull with Porsche, I literally received Christian Horner’s email address, sent him an email and asked ‘hey, maybe you want to talk to us?'»

It has led to the current partnership, which is different from the earlier plans with Porsche. Ford does not demand a say in the F1 team itself to the extent that Porsche did.

«We are not saying ‘you have to do it like this’. No, Red Bull has been in Formula 1 for years, so we mainly ask them what they need from us to be successful together,» adds Rushbrook.

«Based on our initial discussions, we were only going to contribute to the electrical parts of the 2026 engine, but now we are also contributing to the turbocharger and testing rigs for the combustion engine, also because Ford already had knowledge or equipment for that.»

Brodie’s Boulevard leads to the engine store, where various engine parts are sorted. From there, it goes to the cleaning area and then to the build shop, where the internal combustion engines are assembled. As everything has to be spotless and precise, this assembly area looks more like a laboratory than a regular workshop. One half is for a V6 engine, the other for a single cylinder, which is used to make development more efficient.

Red Bull Ford Powertrains

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

«I’m obviously a bit biased, but the set-up we have here looks even more state-of-the-art than what Mercedes has,» Brodie smiles. «But it should be, as I had a lot of freedom to come up with this set-up myself.»

When it comes to testing, Brodie hands over to Florian Niehaves. The German engineer previously worked at AVL, where Red Bull also bought gear for the engine facility, and now works directly for the Powertrains project.

He leads us into the next room, which is somewhat reminiscent of mission control for space missions. This is the hub for multiple testing rigs of individual engine components before they go onto the full power unit.

Manufacturers have to comply with strict testing rules in Formula 1. Each engine facility is only allowed to have three test benches for a full power unit, three for a single cylinder and two for the ERS. Red Bull Powertrains indicates that it is close to the limit of what is allowed in terms of equipment. 

With the infrastructure currently in place in the Jochen Rindt building, Red Bull Powertrains says it can supply a total of four F1 teams with engines. It means that next to Red Bull Racing and the RB team, there is room for two more customer teams, although that is not the plan for 2026.

«We have been approached by different teams, some are probing to see who will have the most competitive engine,» Horner explains. «But our focus is fully on the two Red Bull teams at the moment, because we want to walk before we run. If something might come up later, then we are open to the right partner.»

Horner adds that the financial rules for engine supplies also need changing «because supplying an engine to a customer is a loss making exercise based on the FIA pricing».

«I now almost have sympathy for Cyril», he jokes, referring to former Renault F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul with whom he entertained a frosty relationship.

Red Bull Ford Powertrains

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

After the assembly and test areas, the tour is almost over, but Horner says: «This was not on the initial programme, but let’s have a look at the design offices as well.» Taking photos is once again strictly forbidden, as the screens are full of figures and design sketches that are far too complicated for the humble journalists attending, but would be of interest to competitors.

The Red Bull Campus has grown considerably since the Jaguar team was acquired in 2005, with a total of 1,800 employees working there today. The journey has required more and more buildings in Milton Keynes and the in-house engine project should be the latest step.

After frustrations with Renault’s performance and Honda’s decision to quit, Red Bull is banking on this project to integrate the engine and chassis even better and, above all, to no longer be dependent on an engine supplier.

«We take fate fully into our own hands now; apart from Ferrari, we are the only team in F1 to have the engine and chassis departments at the same campus heading into 2026. Even Mercedes has two different locations,» Horner refers to Brackley and Brixworth. «It may seem an impossible task, but we think it has long-term benefits.»

More important is just how competitive the engine will be, but that is a question no one can answer — not in Milton Keynes, nor at any other manufacturer.

«We are currently meeting all our own targets and milestones, but we have no idea where the opposition stands,» says Rushbrook. «Our motto should be: under-promise and over-deliver.»