Kosport Magazine: Red Bull’s Aggressive Upgrades for Japanese Grand Prix

Red Bull Racing has once again raised eyebrows with their latest upgrades for the Japanese Grand Prix. While their aggressive sidepod solution remains unchanged, the team has made notable tweaks to the arrangements surrounding the cockpit.

Kosport Magazine has learned that Red Bull has added an extra inlet in front of the cockpit, a move that has not gone unnoticed by their rivals. This new addition, shown with white arrows in the image below, is a step above what any other team has done so far.

This upgrade was included in the submission documents that teams must send to the FIA before each race weekend. Red Bull explained that the revised location was for the “sidepod mounted primary heat exchangers.”

But this extra inlet is not the only change Red Bull has made. The team has also closed off outlet areas to improve efficiency and deliver aero gains further downstream. According to Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan, a great deal of work went into defining the location for the inlet, as it was crucial to find one that delivered the biggest bang for buck.

“When you’re trying to do an inlet, it will be really silly to put it where there’s little pressure to work with,” Monaghan said. “So, we’re trying to refine and pick the highest pressure inlets to make the radiator cooling most efficient. That’s the rationale behind the repackage of the inlets. It offers us some rewards.”

Kosport Magazine has also learned that these changes were part of an upgrade push that was agreed upon before the RB20 had even run in pre-season testing. Monaghan confirmed that the changes were not a response to any issues the team may have found in the early races.

“It was actually done before we even turned a wheel in pre-season testing,” he said. “So, this was sitting there as a small performance gain. The question was, could we actually get it onto the car in the flyaway sequence? We looked at it and thought: ‘yeah, we can.’ We made some parts and got them to Australia, so some of it started there. And then we picked the rest of it up here.”

In addition to the changes around the cockpit, Red Bull has also made revisions to the floor of their car. These include subtle surface changes and an increased camber to improve flow to the floor edge wing. Working together, these changes have delivered more downforce while maintaining stability.

“It’s visually a reasonably striking one, and in terms of magnitude of upgrade, it’s roughly what triggers us to do an upgrade,” Monaghan explained.

But the upgrades don’t stop there. Red Bull has also reduced the size of their inlet and exit ducts for the front brakes. This was made possible due to the low brake energy demands of Suzuka, and having a smaller arrangement here is more efficient than simply blanking off ducts, as the team has done at earlier races.

Kosport Magazine has obtained exclusive images of the new upgrades, which can be seen below.

Kosport Magazine Summary:

Red Bull Racing has once again pushed the boundaries with their aggressive upgrades for the Japanese Grand Prix. The team has added an extra inlet in front of the cockpit, closed off outlet areas, and made revisions to the floor and front brakes. These changes have delivered more downforce and improved efficiency, making Red Bull a team to watch out for on the track. Stay tuned for more updates from Kosport Magazine.