Formula 1 News: Red Bull Experiments with Older Parts to Solve RB20 Issues
Red Bull Racing’s struggles with its 2024 challenger, the RB20, have prompted the team to experiment with older specification parts at Zandvoort last weekend. Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen suspected that something had “gone wrong” with the car, leading to its recent difficulties against McLaren and Mercedes.
In an effort to gather data and understand the root cause of the issue, Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez split floor configurations during the Dutch Grand Prix. While the team is still investigating whether the major floor change made at Imola triggered its recent struggles, it has not stopped exploring other areas of the car for potential gains.
Red Bull arrived at Zandvoort with a number of small tweaks to the RB20, including the reintroduction of the high-downforce sidepod and engine cover arrangement first seen at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The team also modified the size of the rear cooling outlet to better suit the demands of the Zandvoort circuit, providing additional versatility in its cooling set-up for future races.
Furthermore, the team introduced new mirror stays and fins around the cockpit, aimed at making small tweaks to the airflow’s behavior as it tracks down the car. This change was likely in response to the new sidepod and engine cover bodywork introduced in Hungary and used again at Zandvoort.
Additional changes to the mirror stays included the separation of the horizontal stay from the mirror housing and a modified outer vertical stay. The team also deleted the canard-style winglet mounted on the side of the halo and replaced it with a vertical fin atop the half-crescent upper sidepod inlet.
Haas F1 Introduces New Front Wing
Meanwhile, Haas F1 introduced a new front wing at the Dutch Grand Prix, aimed at improving flow at the front of the car and unlocking more performance further downstream. The new parts were only raced by Nico Hulkenberg, but the team struggled to gather meaningful feedback due to incidents and mixed weather conditions.
The new front wing is part of a holistic overhaul of the car’s front end aerodynamics, with changes to the nose, front wing, and front suspension fairings designed to work in tandem and leverage each other’s performance.
Haas principal aerodynamicist Simone Benelli explained that the updates are crucial for this generation of cars, as they aim to improve the flow quality for the front flow intake and the sidepod undercut.
Formula 1 news today suggests that Red Bull and Haas are just two of the teams working tirelessly to gain an edge in the highly competitive world of Formula 1. With the Formula 1 schedule heating up, fans can expect more exciting updates and changes as the season unfolds.
🔗 Source