Red Bull’s Resurgence: HALF TERM REPORT of a Comeback Season that’s Stolen the Show

The Formula 1 2024 season has been an exciting spectacle, with several midfield teams attempting to break the dominance of the top contenders. But one team that’s caught many by surprise is Red Bull, who have shaken off their reputation as the “Red Bull’s sister team” and solidified their place in the midfield. With their new Team Principal, Laurent Mekies, at the helm, and a fresh driver lineup in Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo, they’ve made a significant jump in form. Let’s delve into the HALF TERM REPORT and explore why Red Bull have been this season’s breakout stars.

Red Bull’s newfound success was evident from their first foray into 2024, with both drivers qualifying in the points-paying zones. Tsunoda stole the show at the season opener in Bahrain, picking up a few crucial points for the team. Meanwhile, Ricciardo fought hard to climb up the grid, albeit without finding the same speed as Tsunoda. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix saw neither driver finish on the leaderboard, but both showed good pace and left the pits with valuable feedback for their engineers.

Qualifying Head-to-Head: Tsunoda 10 – Ricciardo 4

Yuki Tsunoda has been impressive in qualifying this season. He’s dominated the starting grid, locking out more pole positions (10-4) against his experienced teammate, Ricciardo. The Aussie has worked hard to trim the margin, but so far, Tsunoda has a clear edge over his veteran teammate. Daniel Ricciardo has only managed four top-qualifying outings, with some notable blips in Barcelona and Hungary.

Points Scoring: Tsunoda’s consistency has made him an integral part of Red Bull’s points-accumulation strategy. Across the nine races where points were possible, Tsunoda led the charge on eight instances, securing points for RB. Meanwhile, Ricciardo managed six points over the same time frame but has been able to cut the gap slightly in qualifying. Their 1st and 5th outings in Australia set the early tone for this season of contrasting fortunes in qualifying where Tsunoda out-sprinted Ricciardo

Qualifying Performance Gap: Tsunoda maintains a significant speed advantage to Ricciardo in all qualifying sessions over the mid-season period despite Riccardo having reduced the disparity in the post-break meetings. Tsunoda claimed the best-qualifying performance in most of this season’s top-classes, and some of Red Bull’s victories have made it possible only because it was Yuki who beat his teammate who then gained the upper ground in 5 of these races against his team driver.

Going forward, Yuki aims to maintain the pace throughout the season’s second part. With multiple podium targets in sight and the ability to score key points early on, both drivers demonstrated their capabilities of scoring solid points at different stages

Best Finishing Record: Tsunoda claims the most finishing points; he secured first points via 7th place

Tsunoda has produced the most spectacular performances out of the box, where he has started and climbed up the table. Starting from P6 in Jeddah gave him just enough time in the leading pack to eventually finish behind Ricciardo. Red Bull has maintained their positive momentum with key points contributions from both team members when they needed most.

After a thrilling Miami weekend marked by a close battle of the top team, an impressive Sprint gave Daniel more points and increased his share of the Red Bull fortune. He picked up critical points for both drivers ahead of their best finishes across the weekend: Riccardo finished as high in 4 and Tsudoda secured vital points