Red Bull in 2023: The Challenges of the Champions | Natalie Pinkham, Karun Chandhok and David Croft look ahead

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez hope their feud will not return in 2023

With pre-season tests only a month away, Sky Sports F1s Natalie Pinkham, David Croft and Karun Chandhok have covered some of the big challenges facing Red Bull in the upcoming season…

Although Red Bull dominated the 2022 Formula 1 season with Max Verstappen winning 15 of 22 races, not everything went the champions’ way as the campaign came to an end.

Now, as they head into the new season, they will look to ensure that the challenges they faced towards the end of 2022 do not carry over into 2023.

Red Bull already had less time in their wind tunnel – where F1 teams test and perfect aerodynamics in their cars – than their rivals when they won this year’s Constructors’ Championship, and now due to the infamous cost saga they will have 25 Runs instead of 28 in the wind tunnel next season.

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has rejected suggestions that the team have benefited from exceeding the cost limit, saying the penalty could cost them 0.5 seconds per lap.

By comparison, Ferrari have 30 runs to finish second in the championship and Mercedes 32 for third.

Not only do they face technical challenges, but a driver dispute and a possible challenger for their second seat could hamper the team.

Max vs Checo: Will the saga turn for Red Bull?

After the drivers’ title ended for Verstappen, it looked like everything was going right for Red Bull – that was until the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez struggled on medium tires after a late Safety Car at Interlagos and the team asked him to let Verstappen through on the condition that he would give the place back if he failed to overtake Fernando Alonso for fifth in the closing stages.

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Max Verstappen refuses to let team-mate Sergio Perez back through and is furious on team radio for Red Bull.

When Verstappen was asked to fulfill the contract in the last round, he did not respond, and when asked again, he told his team: “I already told you last summer. You’re not going to ask me that again, okay? Are we clear on that? I gave my reasons and I stand by them.”

There was speculation around the paddock that Verstappen had long been upset by an incident that had occurred at the Monaco GP earlier in the season, which motivated his notable opposition to team regulations in Brazil.

The team had to have clear talks immediately after the race, and although they say everything has been resolved between the two drivers, can there be complete trust between them now?

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the Brazilian GP chapter is over after Max Verstappen refused to let Sergio Perez pass him.

Natalie Pinkham: – Moments like that live on for a long time in a competitor’s memories, and Monaco had clearly left Max’s mark.

“Remembering what Monaco did to you and using it to fight for sixth and seventh all those months later, it clearly bothered him.

“This is not something that will go away.”

Karun Chandhok: “I don’t think we’ll find out the true damage done in Brazil until Checo is asked to help Max.

“I think it will be interesting.

“At the end of the day, Checo has to raise his game because he only beat Max three times in 2022, all three on the street circuit. He has to raise his game if he’s going to fight.”

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Relive how Max Verstappen won his second World Championship as we look at the most important races of the season.

David Croft: “There have to be trust issues. You have to be able to trust your team and as a driver you have to trust your teammate.

“Whatever happened in Monaco, and let’s say there was something about Checo’s accident that wasn’t bad luck, let’s say.

“If it wasn’t an accident, there’s a trust issue and in the back of your mind you think, ‘Are they going to do it again’?

“I don’t see how to fix it.”

Ricciardo in line for permanent Red Bull seat?

After a difficult couple of seasons for Daniel Ricciardo, he has found himself back at Red Bull as a reserve driver in 2023, with many speculating that he could eventually return to the team’s second seat.

All eyes will be on the Verstappen-Perez relationship, while the two-time world champion has also repeatedly hinted at his intention to retire from the sport at a young age, so a vacancy is far from impossible.

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Craig Slater catches up with Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Sergio Perez as they celebrate their F1 Championship in Milton Keynes.

Although Ricciardo, now 33, previously performed well for the Red Bull machinery, the Milton Keynes team face some big questions, including whether the Australian can recapture his form in this new generation F1 car.

The reality is that there are also several other very talented drivers on the grid, such as McLaren’s Lando Norris, who could be interested in a Red Bull seat should it become available.

Natalie Pinkham: “I think he does [Ricciardo] knows that this is a car he can drive and it’s a team where he can perform very well.

“It feels, and he said it, like coming home.

“I think his time at McLaren taught him that his operating window is narrower than he first realized.

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Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft believes there is little difference between Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo as drivers, but does not believe the Australian is Red Bull’s.

“It feels like he’s a perfect fit back at Red Bull. He wants a break, he wants to reconnect with his family and they’re giving him that opportunity.

“They’re not going to bring him to every race, he’s going to get that time off to hit the reset button and it’s just the right place to do that.

Karun Chandhok: “I’m waiting to see how it goes because the last time Daniel drove for Red Bull was in 2018.

– Max has changed a lot, and his self-confidence is growing at the age of 25.

“I think Daniel vs Checo is an interesting fight for a spot in 2024. How do they rate Daniel?

“That’s what I’m interested in seeing. Putting him in a simulator is not the same as driving a car, so are they going to test him somewhere?

“I think they should work hard to get Lando Norris.”

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Red Bull’s Sergio Perez says he is not worried about hiring Daniel Ricciardo as the team’s third driver and says the Aussie will make a big impact on the team next season.

David Croft: “I think [Ricciardo and Perez] are two very different driving styles.

“They’re both capable of winning races, but for me they can win races in a very different way.

– I hate to say this, I think Daniel is a great guy, but he is not the future of Red Bull, not by any stretch of the imagination, mostly because of age.

“When Max spoke at the end of the season about possibly retiring at the age of 31, that’s a big revelation for me. He’s already thinking about the time when he’ll stop racing.

– If he thinks so, Red Bull should think so too.

“Personally, I would try to identify someone else to come in in 2024 if Checo is not the answer.”