TECHNICAL: Red Bull reverts to pre-Hungary aerodynamic configuration

Having introduced a brand-new aerodynamic package in Hungary a week ago, Red Bull have reverted to their usual sidepod and engine cover arrangement for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. F1Technical’s lead journalist Balazs Szabo delivers his latest analysis.

Having pursued the engine cover configuration introduced by Mercedes recently, Red Bull brought a brand-new design and cooling arrangement for last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. The heavily-modified engine cover was a departure from the previous assembly, the high-haunched engine cover design the team adopted for 2024.

For this this year, the Milton Keynes-based outfit took inspiration from the Mercedes-style engine cover gulleys the German manufacturer previously raced with.

The new version features a more conventional design, returning to a more familiar sharp drop-off from the back of the halo fairing. Red Bull stated in Budapest that this was to achieve "better cooling efficiency for a high ambient temperature and relatively slow circuit with the revised geometry by reducing the load losses in such conditions from the exits.”

The significant changes to the top surface of the engine cover prompted Red Bull to make tweaks to the halo fairings in order “to eliminate mismatches in the local surfaces.”

Furthermore, Red Bull has made changes to the rear brake assembly, introducing a triple-element wing. The Milton Keynes-based hinted that the “changes to the profile of the wrap-around upstream of the intakes have given improvements in brake and caliper cooling intake pressures for better efficiencies.”

The team also needed to make key tweaks to the cooling assembly to accommodate all aerodynamic changes.

Following the introduction of the upgrades that was only raced by Max Verstappen, it has been suggested that Red Bull may switch between the two configurations according to track characteristics and conditions. Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache said that this could be the case indeed.

"If the cooling level requirement and track characteristic will push us to change, yes, we will. As everything, all the parts on the car we have are trying to be the same as all the other parts we changed between track. We try to make the quickest car.

"We try, I say, it doesn't mean we are achieving. At each track, then it could be a possibility, yes. We don't know yet," said the Frenchman.

The images of the respected journalist Albert Fabrega reveal that the Austro-British outfit has indeed returned to the pre-Hungaroring package for Spa.

Red Bull did not revert to the old-style bodywork because the new configuration was a disappointment, even if Max Verstappen suggested in Hungary that the new package failed to deliver what the team hoped for.

The reason for reverting to the old package is that the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps demands extreme aero efficiency due to the never-ending full-throttle sections in Sectors 1 and 3 and the high-speed corners in the middle section of the track. This track characteristics means that the high-drag version ran in Hungary would not work at Spa.