Red Bull RB20

[Owen.C93]

Shocked that the endplates weren't already at the maximum width in the regs. Guess they've just been running a beamwing that hasn't been at full width all season.

[organic]

Yet more inlet tweaks. They say the sidepod/floor changes are cooling related but hard to believe

Interested to see what's going on with the beamwing/endplate

https://i.imgur.com/ZL8KsYU.jpeg

The Europe races are traditionally quite warm, so it does make sense.

Really they've modified the inlet geometry to exploit high pressure air better meaning less cooling outlets required. They're not saying that they've increased the inlet area or anything. We'll see from the photos

[organic]

I think the lower part of the sidepod may be slimmed down with a larger & taller g-line undercut, based on the limited pictures from Thursday

[Sergej]

let's wait for some pictures, sidepod inlet change doesn't sound like a simple circuit specific update, seems more in line with their development path in that area

[organic]

taller g-line undercut as expected, and they have optimized the vertical inlet placement (reduced area of inlet). The underside of the shark inlet is now scalloped . Looks like some forward floor changes as well.. but not 100%. top deck behind SIS tube looks like pushed lower

comparisons by Nicolas Carpentiers [@NicolasF1i]
on Twitter



Scalloped bottom of the sharkmouth inlet & possible top deck change highlighted regions



Aero gandalf points out that the leading edge has been treated carefully on vertical inlet to reduce separation

[Sergej]

this is definetely a performance upgrade rather than circuit specific/cooling/other bulls*it; probably reported as circuit specific because they used the loophole about cfd hours on cooling development to produce it.

[Henk_v]

There is no such loophole for external parts. Only internal ducting.

[Venturiation]

There is no such loophole for external parts. Only internal ducting.

For the #SpanishGP, #RedBull revised the sidepod inlet, more for aero goals than for cooling as stated (teams can run their car in the windtunnel as much as they want as long as it's for internal airflow). Narrower sidepods > more space for airflow to Coke bottle area

There is
https://x.com/NicolasF1i/status/1804098702815940812

[organic]

There is no such loophole for external parts. Only internal ducting.

For the #SpanishGP, #RedBull revised the sidepod inlet, more for aero goals than for cooling as stated (teams can run their car in the windtunnel as much as they want as long as it's for internal airflow). Narrower sidepods > more space for airflow to Coke bottle area

There is
https://x.com/NicolasF1i/status/1804098702815940812

internal airflow yes. They can't take measurements other than pressures in the internals.. but clearly using this unlimited tunnel time is part of their strategy with the rb20 given the sheer number of inlet/cooling optimizations they've made

[SiLo]

There is no such loophole for external parts. Only internal ducting.

For the #SpanishGP, #RedBull revised the sidepod inlet, more for aero goals than for cooling as stated (teams can run their car in the windtunnel as much as they want as long as it's for internal airflow). Narrower sidepods > more space for airflow to Coke bottle area

There is
https://x.com/NicolasF1i/status/1804098702815940812

I'm certain this is for internal flow only, they aren't allowed to use it to see external flows. I'm not even sure they can run the car in the wind tunnel. It might just be CFD runs.

[organic]

RB20 rear end with new beamwing/endplate arrangement

high downforce beamwing for Barcelona.

Autosport photos by Giorgio Piola









Side view of new sidepod/undercut geometry


front view

[Sergej]

[Sevach]

I noticed this during qualifying.
Red Bull moved their flap adjuster inboard.



Curious move in the middle of all this discussion over flexing wings.

[organic]

Extra louvres maybe, but apart from that I can't see anything at a glance

[TimW]

I noticed this during qualifying.
Red Bull moved their flap adjuster inboard.

https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl ... acing.webp

Curious move in the middle of all this discussion over flexing wings.

They have been inboard all season