Red Bull started as favorite in Spain. This is the general feeling of the F1 considering the Austrian car. Although the gap among the top teams has undoubtedly decreased, thinned by technical convergence, the RB20 remains the point of reference for the highest category of motorsports. This is because the single-seater of Milton Keynes has practically reached a sort of asymptote, as the development margin of the reigning world champion team is smaller if we think about the aerodynamic packages of the other teams. This is the theory even if the practice differs.
Newey is no longer part of the team, we know it. The British broke the tie with Red Bull. In its place the number 1 became Pierre Waché, maximum powers for him. A contract renewal obtained in recent months to secure the Frenchman also in sight of the 2026. New regulatory challenge that the coach of Auchel is sure to win, as the work group that inhabits the Austrian factory is of the highest level. Besides him the dream team is composed by Enrico Balbo (Head of Aerodynamics), Craig Skinner (Chief Designer) e Ben Waterhouse (Head of Performance).
A concentration of wisdom capable of replacing Adrian, also supported by further brilliant and promising engineers. In the meantime, however, the team of Milton Keynes he’s certainly not watching. For this reason the working group tried to make a greater effort and improve the current vehicle F1. As anticipated through our usual previews of Grand Prix Of Spainthe world champion team of F1 brought a new update on the RB20. New features that are concentrated in the central part of the Austrian single-seater.
F1, Red Bull: redesigns the radiator inlets and bellies of the RB20
Through the shots arriving directly from the Catalan pitlane, we can examine the colored car blue racing. The entrance area of the bellies has changed again. A further step evolutionary which involves a narrowing of the inlets placed in front of the radiators. There RB20 it already had the most extreme solution on the grill, with an “L” shaped slot. The traditional horizontal section has undergone a slight decrease in its area. We can notice the reshaping of the external area, with the aim of enlarging the undercut area and increasing the static pressure in that portion of the single-seater.
The vertical entrance section has also undergone an upgrade. By expertly examining the part in question, it can be seen as in the new version slots no longer has a constant length in its height section. This is because in the lower area the width is certainly smaller. A measure taken by the technicians of Red Bull which as previously has a precise target: “further excavating the undercut area and gaining a few more useful cubic millimetres. An aspect that translates into a quantity of effect outwash greater.
The changes on the cars leading the world championship don’t end here, with the team which also remodeled the car in other parts of the bellies. Even in this case we are talking about one step evolutionary. In fact, we notice that the lateral surface of the belly has been reducedso as to allow more effective channeling of the flow in the lower part. An aspect that allows a more consistent clean fluid mass to circumnavigate the shapes of the RB20 towards the rear.
F1 teams always try to compact the internal components as much as possible, even if the regulations state a clear limit in terms of the arrangement of the various elements. Furthermore there is another discussion relating to fluid dynamics. Especially in this area of the car, it is necessary to supply the necessary quantity of air to the radiating masses. The final size is therefore a function of several parameters and the composition of a larger or smaller dedicated volume is played on this factor to the undercut.
Authors: Alessandro Arcari – @berrageiz – Niccolo Arnerich – @niccoloarnerich
Images: – F1Tv
