In F1 there Red Bull keep winning. Six out of nine races bear the logo of the team Milton Keynes. The cold numbers make it clear that on the one hand the reference point of the highest category of motorsports they remain. However, the ranking does not describe the state of “difficulty” in which the Austrian team finds itself. Yes, because triumphs with the hand out the window no longer exist. Ferrari And McLaren are very close to the performance of RB20 and, on some occasions, Australia, You love me And Monk the two teams mentioned did even better. Mashed potato Mercedes is on a strong comeback.
Without forgetting that Imola And Canada they could have gone differently without the skill of Max Verstappen, capable of optimizing the result despite not having the best performing means. Here comes Spain, layout which in theory should favor Red Bull. However, the competitors are fierce. The red will show further updates to Montmelo. New fund added to others updatein the hope of realizing a further one step competitive. McLaren will seek to maximize the characteristics of the MCL38 through precise tuning.
He made it known anyway Andrea Stella, team principal originally from Orvietoas the stable of F1 based on Woking he will bring many small adjustments in the next races. Then there is Mercedes who seems to have understood something more about the performance of the German single-seater. W15 which will present a new fund in Iberian land. Macro component that should add load and at the same time stabilize it. The ingredients for a weekend where the competition will be very high will not be lacking, bearing in mind that also Red Bull it should fit on the RB20 some upgrades.
F1, Spanish GP: Red Bull knows how to optimize the performance of the RB20
The gap among the leading stables it is slowly flattening out. Red Bullslowly and progressively, is losing the advantage over its competitors accumulated in 2023. Team Of F1 which is arriving at an “asymptote”, to use a mathematical term. In other words the RB20 has a more limited margin in terms of major updates, unless the concepts of the single-seater are revolutionized. This is why marginal gains are increasingly limited. However, as mentioned, the reigning world champion team remains the favorite Barcelona. Let’s talk about it in technical details.
The route of the Spain it is mainly composed of medium and high speed corners. It has two straights, where the main one is very long. Red Bull it will therefore be able to once again assert one of its main technical advantages. We are referring to aerodynamic efficiency, a distinctive trait now also shared with the McLaren. The first section of the track includes a chicane, turn 1-2, where a solid front end is needed both in the braking phase with straight tires and in the insertion phase. A front end optimized helps stabilize the car on entry, a factor that helps bring greater speed to the apex.
Red Bull must improve these two phases through specific tuning. In the various events of the F1 2024 we saw one RB20 weaker up to the apex of the curve, which however then recovers in the exit phase. The front suspension is very stiff and has a strong degree of anti-divas. An aspect that improves the stability of the aerodynamic platform, but which at the moment seems to limit the rear of the car. For this reason, pilots cannot ask for too much in the entry phase. Returning to layout Catalan, after the 2nd there is a large corner under acceleration, where a lot of lateral force develops.
Red Bull it has excellent aerodynamic downforce at high speeds, which is why they will do well in this section, even considering that they will choose a more loaded version of the rear wing. You then arrive at the second part of the circuit, where there is a second wide-ranging bend which you follow with support at a lower speed. Here they will play with each other Ferrari who have always done very well in this type of curve. We then arrive at 5, the slowest zone of the entire track. The entrance has less weight, while at the exit you have to effectively unload all the horses of the team to the ground power unit.
In this fundamental Red Bull she is very prepared. At points where you have a lot of lateral weight transfer at low speeds, where you still accelerate with varying degrees of steering wheel angle, the RB20 it seems to be the best. The amount of grip side that knows how to generate in this range speed is quite high. The next sprint leads to the fast chicane 7-8, where the agility of the Austrian car will be exploited to the fullest. Shortly after here is the 9th, a very fast right-handed curve. Bend where you need so much stability of the aerodynamic platform that must guarantee all the downforce possible.
In the straight stretch that follows Red Bull will develop good top speed, a factor that could help them in the race to defend or attack. This brings us to the last sector of the track F1 Spanish which begins with turn 10, a medium speed corner, in which the RB20 will have to stabilize the rear on entry. Rear end that suffered in various situations because it was not always stable. TO Imola, for example, the technicians worked on the front anti-roll bar. A practice that we try not to implement because, in general, we prefer setting this component only to the rear axle.
Fixing the insertion Red Bull It will do well in acceleration. The cars of F1 they try to go on gas with a zero steering wheel angle, but this is not always possible. It will be interesting to see how the RB20 will face the triptych of folds that leads into the T3. In turn 11 the need to attack the internal curb becomes clear, useful for favoring the trajectory towards turn 12. We will listen to the feedback on the radio on this stretch to understand if the team has made progress or not in stabilizing the car on the curbs. It ends with the last two curves at increasing speed, where the performance they will be very good.
Lastly, a few words about tyres. Tire management which, as we know, plays a fundamental role, currently, in relation to the achievable performance. It will be interesting to understand how Red Bull will react on this crucial aspect. Basically the RB20 puts less energy into the tires, an element that in Spain will be useful considering the expected high temperatures even if, from this point of view, the tire management window is increasingly narrow for the team leader of the championship.
Authors: Alessandro Arcari – @berrageiz – Niccolo Arnerich – @niccoloarnerich
Images: Oracle Red Bull Racing – F1Tv
