Revealed: Why Red Bull have scrapped their special RB20 livery plans

Red Bull have cancelled plans to run a special livery on the RB20 in Singapore and Austin, citing concerns the added weight of the paint could compromise performance.

Earlier this year Red Bull ran the first of their REBL CUSTMS competition liveries at the British Grand Prix intending to feature two more later in the season, Singapore and Austin.

Red Bull will ‘not’ run customer liveries in Singapore and Austin

But in the midst of an intense campaign that saw Red Bull lose the lead of the Constructors’ Championship in Azerbaijan, entrants have been informed that the liveries have been scrapped.

“Unfortunately, when we can to the testing phase of what some REBL CUSTMS designs could look like in real life on the RB20, we found the paint used to create these bespoke full car takeover liveries added unforeseen and undone weight to the bodywork of the RB20.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, any additional weight compromises performance and the team are continuing to prioritise making this car as competitive as possible for the remainder of the 2024 season.

“As a result, it is with a heavy heart that we must let you know the team has made the decision to not run the REBL CUSTMS liveries on the RB20 at the Singapore and United States GPs.”

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The announcement received mixed reactions on social media as while some fans felt it proved Red Bull mean business, others felt it showed how “dire” the situation is.

Last time out in Azerbaijan, Red Bull lost the lead in the Constructors’ Championship to McLaren, where they now trail by 20 points, while Max Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ standings is down to 59.

It marked the first time since after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 2022 – two-and-a-half years ago – that Red Bull did not have the lead in the teams’ standings.

Team boss Christian Horner believes they can fight back at the Singapore Grand Prix.

“Well, look,” Horner said, “I think if you directed the positives out of this weekend, Sergio was in a position in contention with the victory throughout the race.

“And I think if we can build on that and extract more performance, there’s no reason why we can’t be competitive in Singapore.”

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