Red Bull Racing: Team Thread

I recently watched the film Ford vs Ferrari, guess Ford haven't put a new bid in for Ferrari.

 

https://www.redbullracing.com/int-e...m_campaign=SeasonLaunch23&utm_content=Article

Launch at 2pm GMT I think-

 

I didn't really see the car but the Ford CEO was spouting some Bull. He seemed to be suggesting that somehow the Honda developed PU that will be developed into the 2026 PU by Red Bull Power Trains was somehow a Ford unit! OK so that's a little bit of an exaggeration but that's the impression I got!
I just happened to open youtube when the launch was on, so just saw the Ford CEO's speech, then had stuff to do...

 

Red Bull completed their shakedown this week- blurry images suggesting an evolution of last years car.

The bits I saw it looked like it totally eradicated any porpoising - hope it’s not ominous!!

 

there was no real porpoising last year

I'm sure they have not put on the body kit, it'll be running up mechanical parts in advance of the real testing.

 

the videos seem to hint at more extreme cut in under the side pod.

the merc design of no pods seems to not help the air flow as the car seems to not be able to shut off the floor as well.

this new redbull seems to be evolving thier pods to improve that airflow outwash

 

https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-anderson-explains-red-bulls-triple-drs-trick/

garry Anderson explains why thr red bull works and why the other teams are miles off replicating it.

how the beam wing gets stalled by the opening of the rear win and how shapes of elements are generating drag on other cars.

but most importantly how the red bull can have softer suspension and hunker down at speed without bouncing due to how it slows the build up of downforce with speed.

all the other cars have higher downforce rear wings and more drag off the elements but redbul run the beam win with high downforce and the rest with low so the second that Drs opens the beam win LG loses all air going over it and all downforce/drag.

it's not illegal its just a superb design for the regulations and every other team can see every inch and copy, but they can't just get the suspension right

 

Yep- suspension reminds me of active suspension Williams. They have something going on that no one else has replicated.

 

Adrian Newey is an absolute genius.He did it with Williams and then got constructors championships witn McLaren also.Now he`s working wonders for Red Bull.

 

what Anderson is claiming is that red bull are merely slowing the build up of downforce so the car doesn't need as hard a suspension. that suggests that in certain tracks on mid speeds corners they should actually be slower than others.

the red bull appears to be running higher at low speed than the others and able to gradually hunker down under the downforce at high speed. the car is extremely.low drag so the vast majority of downforce is coming from under the car with all the other components having large cruves and no vortices (apparently) to reduce drag further.

Anderson is saying that the design of beam win being ultra aggressive and main wing added to body work means that the second the main wing opens the air flow changed to remove air from beam wing so they basically get a massive differential.

the fast they go the more the car just squats compared to others who have too much body/wing downforce and they all stall their floors out and start bouncing

the problem is no two tracks are equal.

any Bumps and kerbs and the rock hard suspensions like merc had last year are toast. red bull soaks that up.

any smooth flowing tracks then have high speed corners that the redbull soacks up

any long straights the red bull soaks up.

the only place a car has an advantage is ferrari out of low speed corners.

for a team to compete with red bull they seem to need

a) new front suspension geometry to move wheels forward
b) new floor with much more.rounded rear diffuser
c) more complex side floor vortex generators from the front vanes down to the sides
d) new rear wing with much morerounded corners and no vortices spinning off
e) much more aggressive beam wings
f) bodywork to power beam wing and main wing
g) higher ride heights and softer suspension

in other words an entire new car with the same engine

the fact the Aston can copy at least a part of red bull and get "close" with a merc engine should be a case for hope. the car is still more draggy than the red bull but it could keep up in part for a while at least.

the supposed best teams have fundamentally got the aero package wrong and could actually be wasting the best engines on the track chasing a pre ground effect style approach with ground effect tagged on

merc idea to have zero pods might or.might not be pointless but if we look at the rear wing alone on the merc and compare to the red bull per Anderson then you see loads of drag built in by merc in their concept.

 

Great explanation, very interesting.
I wonder why no one really picked up on the way the Red Bull works. It's almost like they didn't see last years Red Bull and therefore didn't look into how it worked!

 

Great to see this explained- thanks mate - I wish I was more technically minded!

 

Interesting Ched- I read or watched an interview with Newey referring to the Williams 1995 and 1996 cars. I believe there was a feeling in the team that Damon and DC did not make the most of the 95 car which was arguably the best on the grid (think it got most Poles that year). Anyway, long story short, Newey introduced an upgrade towards the end of the season and Hill cruised to a win in Adelaide (the final race there before moving to Albert Park in 96).

To Neweys amazement, no one copied or latched on to the upgrade which he thought was obvious, and they went on to totally dominate in 1996 with Hill and Villeneuve battling it out.

Il try and dig out the interview - from memory I think it was an upgrade on the rear of the car.

Looks like we’ve got deja vu in 2023! Aston appear the closest to cracking the code but just missing the one final magic trick.

 

I don't understand 99% of it either!

 

in fairness in 1995 to 1996 there were a lot of fundamental issues.

Benetton lost Schumacher, Byrne and brawn all together to ferrari where a total start from scratch approach was required to fix a pig of a car

thats the main field cleared in one fell swoop for williams.

mclaren were nowhere there as well but came on in 1998/1999.

its interesting to note that Newey left Williams after 1996 and went to mclaren in 1997, coincidence? i think not.

In 2001 newey wanted to leave to go to jaguar but mclaren held on and that continued for 2 more years til he got out. again ferrari dominance and mclaren drop off. coincidence? i think not.


he went to red bull in 2006 (after car was developed) and he then took that team from also rans to world titles in 2010 with good results in 2009 showing the step change. (this was Brawn having best car by a mile for first half of season and hanging on)

the honda power issues held newey back for years then as mercedes (former brawn) dominated year on year

So newney has had a hand in williams, mclaren and two red bull championship winning teams and frnakly each time the cars have been utterly dominant.

The whole mclaren stuff probably knocked him back 5 years and then the honda engine power has not let us see the car he wanted to deliver.

And here we are again. mark 4 newey, utterly dominant. Once again the field has been cleared by teams incompetence (mercedes and ferrari) so nobody is even going to come close to them.

 

You might think Newey's record would make everyone analyse his designs in detail but I detect some arrogance from other designers, or laziness.

 

Miami livery

 

Good look at some floor edge detail.




The new livery kind of gives you more of an appreciation for the subtle aero shaping to this car - it is elegant from Newey and team.