Red Bull RB20

[Flanker27]

https://i.ibb.co/QcV89zp/letterbox.png

is this a letterbox air inlet?

So there are both vertical (2x) and horizontal air inlets?

yes Michael, yes, yes Michael, that was so right

[FDD]

https://i.ibb.co/QcV89zp/letterbox.png

is this a letterbox air inlet?

So there are both vertical (2x) and horizontal air inlets?

yes Michael, yes, yes Michael, that was so right

[deadhead]

[AR3-GP]

So much circulation…

[Andi76]

Agree, there seems to be sufficient space for the undercut to be even larger in the middle of the sidepod area, where it's currently very bulbous.

Sorry, but can't you see that the whole sidepod area is packed with radiators and other components? There is NO empty space here. On the contrary, it's all packed

https://postimg.cc/T5MtWMJS

https://postimg.cc/hzjp3XTR

It's not at all obvious unless you have that pic taken from the front.

Merc's so called "zero pods" looked huge from the front. From the above pics, I reckon the RB20 has a good amount of empty space to shrink the side-pods to a similar volume to the W13, but instead the volume will be placed higher with a big undercut. All speculation until someone shows the RB20 internals from a better angle.

https://e0.365dm.com/22/03/1600x900/sky ... 0310085011

The front view is not really important I think,
because Zeropods are not about the inlets, but that there is "nothing" behind them.
So, what is important are these views:


image share




These perspectives show very clearly that Red Bull, as the current packaging and the position of the radiators and aggregates is, does not have nearly the space and that the side boxes are absolutely full. You only have to look at the huge gap between the edge of the floor and the radiators and power units on the Zeropod Mercedes and how small it is on the Red Bull. There is clearly no room for a Zeropd concept in the classic sense. And a further "raising" has absolutely nothing to do with the Zeropod concept of the 2022 Mercedes. Sorry if I don't see any path or similarity here. But I am a realist and judge by what I see, and there is no similar volume to the W13. Not even close.




And the Red Bull goes into the undercut, where the radiators are clearly above it. Nevertheless, there is a world of difference in space. And even more important - you can see the completely different packaging and placement of the radiators and power units at Mercedes and the absolutely conventional arrangement at Red Bull, which practically have the "V" arrangement as introduced by Sauber in 2004.

[chrisc90]

Agree, we arent going to get a full blown 'zero-pod', as one of the RB team alluded to. However what we will get is their version which has a little more padding around the sides.

I still think there will be something with a full undercut on the side pod, or even use that as some sort of wing/aerofoil to assist the aero they have chosen.

RB20 is certainly a big change from the RB19, especially with how they have moved the inlet and all the radiators under the covers. Time will tell what the evolution will bring.

I have a feeling though those cannons are taking the hot air from the radiators and throwing it down out the back across the beam wing area.

[tmoneyr007]

There is no reason you move the radiators and package them in that scenario unless you are giving yourself options for down the road.

If you wanted an evolution you would have went to water cooled and placed them in a traditional manner.

I feel the lower side radiator is an “extra” for warm weather/testing, will be removed and the undercut will increase and rear of the sidepod well decrease to something similar at the beginning of the Coanada Exhaust development process.

[.poz]

I have a feeling though those cannons are taking the hot air from the radiators and throwing it down out the back across the beam wing area.

why ? hot (less dense) and slower air it's exactly what you don't want on a wing

[chrstphrln]

I can't believe people are still writing about Zeropods at Red Bull.
How obsessed do you have to be if you want to recognize anything from the old Mercedes concept in the RB20?
It's also not clear to me why the vertical inlet has anything to do with Zeropod. Ferrari has been driving around with this all last year and no one has claimed that the SF-23 was developed with Mercedes in mind.
Which would have been complete nonsense.

[djos]

Here's a front angle without sidepod panel on

That picture seems to support my theory that the vertical intake is for electronics or battery cooling.

[vorticism]

XPB Images / racefans.net





Seems like the helmet, headrest, and halo base act to funnel air into these new headrest inlets.

[djos]

What I don't understand is why RB insists on running these bulky intercoolers. You look at the Merc powered cars and they have very small packaging under the sidepod. Is it just weight? Would've thought they could eat that penalty by now in the regs.

Air to air intercoolers are lighter, therefore you can mount them higher without impacting CoG.

McLaren use the Mercedes PU but use their own Air to air intercoolers.

[Sieper]

Thanks djos, agree on your previous post (likely for electronics cooling) and indeed, McLaren’s overal cars concept is close to RB and perhaps the choice for air to air intercooler is important to that.

[djos]

What I don't understand is why RB insists on running these bulky intercoolers. You look at the Merc powered cars and they have very small packaging under the sidepod. Is it just weight? Would've thought they could eat that penalty by now in the regs.

Air to air intercoolers are lighter, therefore you can mount them higher without impacting CoG.

McLaren use the Mercedes PU but use their own Air to air intercoolers.

Just some extra info. Water to air intercoolers are a lot smaller, but the water is also fairly heavy.

The size makes them great for packaging in small volumes, and their other main advantages are they work really well from much lower speeds and are more effective in hot conditions.

In F1 the cars are rarely moving slowly so the low speed benefit doesn’t really apply. Hot ambient conditions are also not the norm at most races.

So like any engineering decision, it’s about which compromise works best for your car concept.

[djos]

Thanks djos, agree on your previous post (likely for electronics cooling) and indeed, McLaren’s overal cars concept is close to RB and perhaps the choice for air to air intercooler is important to that.

Cheers. See my follow up post, it’s all about choosing the best compromise for your car concept. I think you are right that McLaren and RedBull have chosen the air to air option for very similar reasons.