The single kilogram that could have hindered Red Bull’s performance at Singapore

Red Bull have confirmed the reason for not running a fan-inspired livery at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, with concerns about the extra weight it would add to their car forcing the team to abandon the idea.

As part of its REBL CUSTMS campaign, Red Bull ran a special fan-designed livery at this year’s British Grand Prix. The Austro-British outfit established a REBL CUSTMS configurator with which fans had the opportunity to create their own livery.

The customisation patterns available in the configurator were inspired by historic Team liveries, from 20 years of racing around the globe, and offered a bespoke set of race-specific stickers to provide unique personalisation.

The reigning world champion outfit announced during the summer break that they would run a special livery at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. However, the Milton Keynes-based squad has abandoned that plan after it was discovered it would add an extra 1kg of weight to their RB20 car.

A statement from the team said: “Unfortunately when we came 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 undue weight to the bodywork of the RB20,” said a statement.

“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.”