Red Bull RB6

[Terrible3]

I suspect that since Newey didn't take the Renault/McLaren route of building maximum diffuser wake by tieing the diffuser exits to the lower wing, he either knows something they don't, or has been caught out in committing to last year's successful design. We'll just have to see how all this unfolds.

I think basing the car success on diffuser size is borderline moronic. Last year the force India had one of the largest DDD yet redbull with one half its size was dominate.... Obviously there were many other factors, but I just wanted to point out that size is not everything despite my junk mail telling me otherwise.

[tok-tokkie]

I am struck by the exhaust placement. Does it contribute to the effectiveness of the upper diffuser I wonder?

[bill shoe]

Looks like all radiator flow exits through the single "mailbox" outlet (I like that name for it). This eliminates the conflict in the rear of the sidepod between radiator airflow and exhaust packaging. The exhaust (and pullrod suspension) gets all the space it wants. The rear of the sidepods simply end at the diffuser's upper deck opening. Neat.

I think one thing that made it convenient to duct radiator airflow up to the mailbox outlet was the fact that the large fuel tanks this year made the cars wider through the mid section.

I agree with everyone who says the car does not look revolutionary, but I think designs with the best integration sometimes look deceivingly simple or obvious.

I think many of these themes exist on the Toro Roso car too, but I probably failed to appreciate them when it came out.

[bill shoe]

A negative point is the complete lack of frontal visibility anywhere other than straight forward. The Virgin car also appears to have a similar lack of front-quarter visibility. Combine this with the outboard rear-view mirrors and the overall driver view is appalling. I hope FOTA and FIA think about this and create a sensible vision requirement for next year.

[ringo]

I think redbull's Achilles heel, is that they depend on one main designer. That is probably a good idea for a regulation change, but when the competition catches on to the rules for the next year, they have a team of designers pitching in new ideas instead of just one guy.
Newey is great, but with the RB6 he shows that his creative juices were mostly used up for 2009. Other teams were thinking more outside the box this year. 5 or 6 little brains are better than one big brain.

I still like the car though, it may still run fast as hell, even though it doesn't look as up to date as the other cars. It has a nimble and light look like the f10, less gimmicky than the others.
The horizontal design of the side pod will reduce any low pressure zones over the top, and shift the aerodynamic balance more to the center.

[PlatinumZealot]

It looks like they have added some kind of sidepods extensions that lead toward the upper diffuser. It seems that when the car was first presented there were no those gray/black elements extending sidepods backward. Am I mistaken?

=D> aah you notice it too.
I think this is the genius part that we were looking for.. The hot air from the side-pods just route into the diffuser. The sidepods are very similar to the Renault R29's side-pods. Except the Ranault side pods were not used to augment a diffuser.

You can also notice that the drive shafts are located much higher this year.

[noname]

I think redbull's Achilles heel, is that they depend on one main designer. (...)

do you have any inside view of how RBR technical department is operating ?

Newey holds position of Chief technical officer.
Rob Marshall is a Chief designer and he is the one signing the drawings.
There is also Peter Prodromou who knows thing or two about F1 car and, apart from mentioned trio, I am almost certain Newey was able to recruit few others smart guys.

[horse]

I think this is the genius part that we were looking for.. The hot air from the side-pods just route into the diffuser.

Could someone explain how this helps the double diffuser concept, I'm not sure I understand. Is the pressure difference between the radiator exhaust and the underbody flow greater than that of the free-stream and the underbody flow?

[Shaddock]

Now V nose direct part of air flow sideward.

RB6


RB5

The humps either side might not just be an aero led concept, as they have turned into an 'inverted twin keel' to hang the suspension from. With such a high nose that lacks depth at the point where the front suspension attaches, the higher sides might be more of a solution to a mechanical problem than an aero inspired concept.

[segedunum]

The smaller front tyre gives teams a very big change to get right or wrong. The red bull was hard on its tyres which helped them at the cold venues last year. How do you know last years best car (in your opinion) wont work with the new tyres...for all we know it may chew straight through them, or the rears with the extra fuel weight.

It's still a pretty small-fry change compared with the changes between 2008 and 2009. They'll end up adjusting the balance somewhat, manage the mechanical grip levels they have better and make sure the car doesn't move around as much. It won't be as out-and-out fast, but it'll enable them to manage their tyres over longer runs. I would hazard a guess they would have thought reasonably hard about this over the winter and they'll have had more time to devote to it than other teams.

Put simply, it won't stop them being fast.

[WhiteBlue]

Don't know if we had this already. Some details of the diffusor visible. This shouldn't be the last version.

[manchild]

The RB did not win the championship, a Brawn did therefore it was statistically not the best car. Statistics are what matter as at the end of the year thats what it comes down to.

You're forgetting DDD scandal of FIA misleading most of the teams, by telling them that DDD is illegal, while allowing Brawn and few other teams to use it. Renault made it, but was told it is illegal. 2009. was just another FIA dirty politics season, and so are the Button's and Brawn's titles. They got it, bough it, whatever you like, they did not won in if fair fight. RB5 was by far the best car and proved that. Brawn was sc****g from Benetton days, and he only reaffirmed his personality with the way he won 2009. double titles.

Statistics you're calling upon also tells that Herman Goering was one of the greatest art collector, without telling how he achieved it. To people who care about sportsmanship, fairness and honor, statistics is irrelevant if it denies the former.

[WhiteBlue]

The RB did not win the championship, a Brawn did therefore it was statistically not the best car. Statistics are what matter as at the end of the year thats what it comes down to.

You're forgetting DDD scandal of FIA misleading most of the teams, by telling them that DDD is illegal, while allowing Brawn and few other teams to use it. Renault made it, but was told it is illegal. 2009. was just another FIA dirty politics season, and so are the Button's and Brawn's titles. They got it, bough it, whatever you like, they did not won in if fair fight. RB5 was by far the best car and proved that. Brawn was sc****g from Benetton days, and he only reaffirmed his personality with 2009. double titles.

Statistics you're calling upon also tells that Herman Goering was one of the greatest art collector, without telling how he achieved it. To people who care about sportsmanship, fairness and honor, statistics is irrelevant if it denies the former.

The mind boggles at the logic! Good luck with re writing all the record books in the world. Where do we have to buy it? Will Massa be WDC in 2008 in your book after you have re written the Singapore race result?

[noname]

It's still a pretty small-fry change compared with the changes between 2008 and 2009. They'll end up adjusting the balance somewhat, manage the mechanical grip levels they have better and make sure the car doesn't move around as much. It won't be as out-and-out fast, but it'll enable them to manage their tyres over longer runs. I would hazard a guess they would have thought reasonably hard about this over the winter and they'll have had more time to devote to it than other teams.

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news ... y-q-a.html

few words from Newey about RB6.

[manchild]

The mind boggles at the logic! Good luck with re writing all the record books in the world. Where do we have to buy it? Will Massa be WDC in 2008 in your book after you have re written the Singapore race result?

Singapore race outcome resulted from a chain of many events on track, and is by no mean defined by Piquet's crash. Alonso might have could have crashed too. He did not cause red flag situation and premature ending of race while Alonso was on P1, neither did he taken out rest of the field except Alonso with him, so someone could say "Alonso won because Piquet crashed".