During pre-season testing in Bahrain, the RB19 immediately demonstrated an improvement over its predecessor, the already-dominant RB18. Pundits observed the car looked stable, planted, and easy to drive. Red Bull topped the timing sheets on both the first and third days of testing. When asked what had improved relative to the RB18, Verstappen's answer was simply "everywhere."
The Bahrain Grand Prix opened the season with Red Bull locking out the front row, Verstappen on pole and Perez in second. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc beat Perez off the line but Verstappen immediately demonstrated the RB19's superior race pace, pulling clear at nearly a second per lap. Perez stayed behind Leclerc in the opening stint to protect his tyres before pitting on lap 17 and quickly passing the Ferrari on harder compounds. Verstappen won comfortably, Perez second, Fernando Alonso third — Red Bull's first 1-2 of 2023.
Saudi Arabia added complexity. Verstappen struck a driveshaft problem in Q2 and could manage only fifteenth on the grid. Perez took pole position and led throughout, managing a challenge from Alonso at the start. Verstappen drove through the field, took advantage of a safety car to pit cheaply, and worked his way to second. Red Bull instructed both drivers to manage to a lap time delta of 1:33.0 in the closing stages — a directive that attracted attention — but both crossed the line for another 1-2, Perez victorious.
Australia proved messier for Perez, who spun into the gravel at turn 3 in Q1 and started from the back, while Verstappen took pole despite issues with downshifts and his battery. Verstappen was briefly passed by Mercedes drivers Russell and Hamilton on lap 1, but a safety car and subsequent red flag reset the field. Verstappen retook the lead on lap 13 and won. Perez recovered to fifth through multiple safety car and red flag periods.
For Azerbaijan Red Bull introduced sidepod modifications that improved airflow to the ancillaries and coolers. In the sprint weekend format, Leclerc took pole for the main race while Perez qualified on the sprint front row. Verstappen made contact with George Russell in the sprint, suffering sidepod damage that cost him pace. In the main race both Red Bulls passed Leclerc on the main straight by lap 6 and Perez won, extending the pattern of dominant 1-2 finishes.
In Miami, Verstappen qualified ninth after a red flag ruined his lap, while Perez took pole. Verstappen clawed from the back through the field on hard tyres, ran second by lap 15, and overtook Perez on lap 47 with fresher rubber. Another 1-2 for Red Bull.
Monaco was a contrasting weekend. Verstappen took pole by a narrow margin over Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. Perez crashed out of Q1 at Sainte Devote — repeating mistakes from Monaco 2022 and Australia — and started last. He could recover only four positions and ended the race two laps down on his teammate after a further incident with George Russell in the rain. Verstappen won easily ahead of Alonso and Ocon.
The RB19's season statistics are historically remarkable. Its 21 victories from 22 races gave it the highest win rate in a single Formula One season, breaking the McLaren MP4/4's record that had stood for 35 years. It also produced the second-highest percentage of laps led in a season at 86.7 percent — 1,149 laps from 1,325 contested — behind only the MP4/4's 97.3 percent. Verstappen secured his third consecutive Drivers' Championship with races remaining, and Red Bull claimed the Constructors' Championship by a substantial margin.
The RB19 is the defining car of an era of Red Bull dominance that began with the RB18 in 2022. Its combination of aerodynamic efficiency, tyre management capability, and mechanical reliability produced a machine that competitors found impossible to match across an entire season. The car also cemented the Honda RBPTH001 as a championship-winning unit, validating Red Bull's decision to bring Honda back as a named partner after years of the relationship being obscured under the Red Bull Powertrains branding. The RB19's record season will likely stand as the benchmark for single-season dominance in Formula One for the foreseeable future.
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