F1 News: Red Bull to move toward RADICAL car change after opening races

Max Verstappen, launch RB20, Red bull contentpool, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

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Red Bull to move toward RADICAL car change after opening races

The RB20 has been likened to its rivals' previous design

Tyler Rowlinson

Wednesday 21 February 2024 19:57

Red Bull appear set to move even further toward a 'zeropod' design on their 2024 car after the opening rounds of the season.

The RB20, which was officially revealed last Thursday, has been likened to the Mercedes W14 from 2023, due to its new engine cover bodywork with a high waistline and full-length gulleys running from the edge of the halo.

The Milton Keynes-based team have also opted to move from an underbite-lookalike sidepod intel to an overbite, allowing the top surface to extend beyond the main intake.

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However, it is reported that this design will only be used in pre-season testing and the opening rounds of the season in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia for the hot weather conditions.

Team Principal Christian Horner has promised a 'new chapter' for the team

The car will be upgraded to a Mercedes-style 'zeropod' design after the opening rounds of the season

RB20 'zeropod' design revealed

The idea back in 2022 was to achieve greater downforce by shrinking the bodywork to increase the surface area of the prepotent floor.

But while the perfect conditions of the wind tunnel gave strong numbers in the simulations, it did not translate to good performances in reality, due to the bumps in the surface on the race circuits.

Mercedes eventually scrapped the design at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2023, where they then moved to a more conventional downwash sidepod, pioneered most notably by Red Bull, and speaking at the launch of their 2024 challenger, team principal Christian Horner has said he has seen that the other teams have “taken an influence from the RB19.”

When asked about their decision to move to a Mercedes-style engine cover with the RB20, Horner replied: “It's not tactical. It's based on performance and what we're seeing through our simulation tools.”

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