The RB20 is compared to Mercedes’ 2023 car, the W14, with a high waist and a new engine cover style that includes a duct that directs the airflow from behind the halo.
Red Bull also abandoned the air intake in the sidepod area, which is now used by most teams, with a longer bodywork at the bottom, and instead moved the air intake lower and extended the bodywork above it forward.
But Motorsport.com understands that this livery will only be used in hot conditions in pre-season testing, as well as the opening races in Bahrain, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
Red Bull will switch to a design reminiscent of Mercedes’ zeropod design when it heads to Japan in early April, where temperatures will drop and cooling will be less necessary. This was a concept that Mercedes struggled to perform well throughout 2022 and 2023.
Mercedes was hoping to get more downforce with this concept, and the wind tunnel data was great. But these just didn’t match the real-world data, due to bumps in the asphalt and things like that.
Mercedes has therefore abandoned this layout for the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix and switched to a more traditional sloping sidepod, as pioneered by Red Bull.
Red Bull’s launch car was seen to feature more compact and vertical radiator inlets to allow for a narrower body design, which could facilitate Red Bull’s move to its own so-called ‘zeropod’ design.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing Team Principal
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull may resort to the “solution” it used in 2023 to partially compensate for the aerodynamic constraints that limit wind tunnel testing and CFD simulations. The Austrian team was the team that used the wind tunnel the least last year, not only due to its position in the teams’ championship, but also due to the penalty imposed for exceeding the 2021 budget limit.
The Aerodynamic Testing Restriction provides exceptional permission for wind tunnel work “to develop power unit heat exchangers that remove heat into the air or to operate the power unit from a boundary starting from the power unit air intake ducts.”
Just like last year, Red Bull focused on improvements to improve cooling this year – with the switch to a Mercedes-style zeropod design. Repackaging internal components does not fall under testing restrictions, allowing the team to spend less funds improving the exterior.
In his interview at the launch, Horner said about switching to the Mercedes-style engine cover: “This is not a tactical decision. It is based on performance and what we see in our simulation vehicles.” he said.
2024-02-17 08:59:32
#Red #Bull #preparing #advanced #version #Mercedesstyle #sidepod
