2021 Red Bull Racing F1 Team

[ringo]

Honda will still be supporting Redbull for 2022 even if the PU will not be badged as Honda.
So i would not be concerned about them falling behind.
In fact they may get further ahead because their PU was so reliable. They will squeeze more out of it.

[PlatinumZealot]

But the redbull for me was a masterpiece in downforce efficiency, braking, and agility. Coupled with that Honda motor it was a very consistent car and predictable. I think the qualifying sessions are where it simply looked like it was on rails.
The flexi wing regs may have hurt them somewhat. And was there some ruling on the ERS?

RB16B had its own challenges. Coincidentally, it started with new construction of Pirelli that came in Silverstone. The car suddenly lost its front bite, causing balance issues. They had to sacrifice the rear end grip to balance front. It was the same case in Hungary, Turkey and Mexico. Because of the lack of front grip, Max had to adjust his driving and started to break early to get the front rotating. Conversely, the new compound seemed to have helped Mercedes as it reflected in the uptick of performance and as speculated, it helped them in sealing the diffuser better (with stiff side wall) which was a struggle with new breakduct regulations of 2021.

One of the worst elements in F1 of the last decade is Pirelli. For God sake, fire Pirelli and bring Bridgestone back. How long do we have to endure their inefficiency. Unpredictable tyres, pressures matching road cars and unending reliability issues of tyres. Never in F1 was there a period where one element was this bad. It's because of their rubbish tyres we see a sham like drivers queuing up in the last turn causing mayhem.

That's not how tyre aerodynamics work though. And that's a bit on overreaction to fire Pirelli!

Outside of causing drag and a dirty wake, the biggest problem of the tyres is that their jiggly-ness (or vibrations) causes ripples, or turbulence to the aerodynamics of the car near the diffuser. The stiffer the tyre the more stable it is and the less this effect.

The RedBull car has higher rake, so it's floor is further away from the tyre squirt area and brake ducts are closer to the floor and help to alleviate this disturbance from the tyres. The Mercedes floor is closer to the ground, and its brake ducts are farther away from it, so it suffers more pain from the tyre disturbance.

When the stiffer tyres were introduced ( as a request from RedBull post Baku), the tyres improved the floor aero for all teams, but as you know, it made a better improvement for Mercedes and Aston Martin, since their floors were suffering quite bad already with the prior construction.

So no, the new tyres did not damage RedBull, it helped all teams, but it did help to alleviate the handicap Mercedes and Aston had with the chopped floor.

[rogazilla]

I bet they will be looking (if not already) at and preparing for possible 4 engines, 5 engines season situation. How they can squeeze out THAT much power where a 5 grid penalty can easily be covered. Just looking to cover the basis.

[Wouter]

One week ago:

In this episode of Behind The Charge, Red Bull Racing Honda arrive in Abu Dhabi for the final round of the 2021
Formula 1 World Championship.
With exclusive behind-the-scenes access, we follow Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez through the race weekend as the Team fights for its first drivers' and constructors' titles in eight years.

[diffuser]

The Honda PU at the beginning of the season was on par or more powerful than Merc. It was clear on some tracks with many straights. At least the Honda PU was closer to Merc than to Ferrari/Renault. That's why Merc bought an aero upgrade which helped them to have a tremendous straight line at Silverstone. That's also why Merc were running mid DF wing on Hamilton's car at Portimao (which helped him to overtake Verstappen), and why they created this stall diffusor trick I believe.

Regarding the reliability I think every reports highlighted the fact that Merc PU was losing a lot of power with mileage which is why Merc brought an "upgrade" at the end of the season in order to solve these issues. Furthemore, these issues were not only related to a progressive/linear loss of power as Bottas and Hamilton had many leaks (fuel I believe but not sure) with their engines which is why the PU "upgrade" is said to be 0.600 kg heavier.

Sorry, I was not clear, I was more interested in the analysis behind the claims I've highlighted. The Merc power degradation is well documented, but this wouldn't have applied at the start of the season as they would have had fresh PUs. If the Honda was on par with the Merc PU at the start of the season, that would suggest the Honda PU was more powerful as the Merc PU started to degrade through the season. I'm not sure if that really aligns with the views throughout the season that the Merc PU was more powerful. Many people here felt it was a "rocket"...

Yes, I think at the very beginning of the season it was quite equal. The rocket theory started already a bit at Portimao and Silverstone with the mid DF setup. Nevertheless the RB chassis have always been more "dragy" due to their philosophy.

Regarding the "rocket" engine. I feel all of this is a "hoax" alimented by Wolff himself.
Mercedes were fast but not so far ahead at Monza "temple of speed". I think the stall diffusor trick is the main reason why Merc gained so much. Ofc they resolved some of their issue with the engine, run it harder, and may be increase the compression ratio as they could get away with it with 2 races on each PU left, but that doesn't make +75hp.

In fact, the advantahe on straight line speed was very different on each track. In fact the stall worked very well in Russia, Turkey and Brazil it seems, and the speed trap showed it. It was largely inefective in USA for example.

i.e : speed trap in Russia despite running an old engine which led to a grid penalty in the following race ; https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... ds_v01.pdf

To finish, I might be speculating but the stall by definition is harder the faster you go, this is why the slipstream was so powerful for Hamilton in Brazil, or even in Jeddah behind Max despite the fact that RB was faster on the straights in quali.

For the record, PU manufacturers were allowed 1 new iteration for each segment of the PU this year. To which both Honda and Mercedes took them at the beginning of the year, they were not allowed upgrades after that. Alpine and Ferrari didn't take all their upgrades. That is why Ferrari were allowed to upgrade late in the year. Alpine is going with a whole new design that wouldn't fit the old chassis, so they didn't upgrade anything.

There was speculation that Merc had found a way for a 3 level(height) rake. On the 3ird level they were stalling the diffuser and reducing drag on straights.

[Ryar]

Post Championship interview with DC.

[ispano6]

Long post incoming, ................

All of this could have been of nought if Max wouldn't have suffered in Baku, Silverstone, Hungary, Italy (slow stop due to adhoc pit stop rule introduction) and the consequence of engine penalties for no fault of their own. RB could have used the option of using an extra engine more strategically, than being forced on. If Max would have had a trouble free season, the championship could have been over long back and we wouldn't be speculating the rise of Mercedes power for the last few races and both teams would have moved on to 2022.

In fact, if anything this season was a rude awakening for Mercedes on their PU front. So much unreliability and they had to run their engines full power for most part of the race on most races, which they hadn't done ever in hybrid era. They were forced to spend more time for 2021 than they would have liked, as in earlier years. This has been the year of Honda, who have not just brought power on par with Mercedes, but reliability far exceeding that of Mercedes. For me personally, I was completely hopeless for such a used engine to be even be competitive in Saudi and Abu Dhabi, compared to a brand new Mercedes engine and for the dubious (arguable) rear wing. I am sure in time, there would be some news of how Mercedes managed to turn up the engine power since Silverstone and more particularly from Brazil.

Spot on, also let's not forget the bendy wing complaint from MB and Pirelli tyre construction change for the hard tyres that Red Bull were good on prior to the failure.

[ispano6]

For the record, PU manufacturers were allowed 1 new iteration for each segment of the PU this year. To which both Honda and Mercedes took them at the beginning of the year, they were not allowed upgrades after that. Alpine and Ferrari didn't take all their upgrades. That is why Ferrari were allowed to upgrade late in the year. Alpine is going with a whole new design that wouldn't fit the old chassis, so they didn't upgrade anything.

There was speculation that Merc had found a way for a 3 level(height) rake. On the 3ird level they were stalling the diffuser and reducing drag on straights.

Honda introduced their upgraded battery mid season from the summer break.

[diffuser]

For the record, PU manufacturers were allowed 1 new iteration for each segment of the PU this year. To which both Honda and Mercedes took them at the beginning of the year, they were not allowed upgrades after that. Alpine and Ferrari didn't take all their upgrades. That is why Ferrari were allowed to upgrade late in the year. Alpine is going with a whole new design that wouldn't fit the old chassis, so they didn't upgrade anything.

There was speculation that Merc had found a way for a 3 level(height) rake. On the 3ird level they were stalling the diffuser and reducing drag on straights.

Honda introduced their upgraded battery mid season from the summer break.

Nope beginning of the year.

https://racer.com/2021/07/02/honda-exp ... pu-gains/

[Juzh]

For the record, PU manufacturers were allowed 1 new iteration for each segment of the PU this year. To which both Honda and Mercedes took them at the beginning of the year, they were not allowed upgrades after that. Alpine and Ferrari didn't take all their upgrades. That is why Ferrari were allowed to upgrade late in the year. Alpine is going with a whole new design that wouldn't fit the old chassis, so they didn't upgrade anything.

There was speculation that Merc had found a way for a 3 level(height) rake. On the 3ird level they were stalling the diffuser and reducing drag on straights.

Honda introduced their upgraded battery mid season from the summer break.

Nope beginning of the year.

https://racer.com/2021/07/02/honda-exp ... pu-gains/

No.

Honda introduced new energy store after summer break.

Officially confirmed by honda themselves, along with a bunch of other articles from other publications
https://honda.racing/f1/post/new-energy-store-f1

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the- ... een-using/

[Wouter]

Leading The Pack In Security: Wolf To Protect Team From 2022

Welcoming cybersecurity leader Arctic Wolf to the Team from 2022.

Red Bull Racing Honda joins forces with cybersecurity leader Arctic Wolf to enhance data protection at Formula 1 Grands Prix and beyond.
Success in Formula 1 has always relied on being technologically one step ahead of rivals and, with the world’s foremost high-tech sport relying on an increasingly complex array of digital solutions in the pursuit of victory, it’s more important than ever that a team’s critical data remains secure.

As such, Red Bull Racing Honda is pleased to announce a new partnership with leading cybersecurity specialists Arctic Wolf.

The US company will become the Team’s official cybersecurity partner and will implement its category-defining cybersecurity products across the team’s existing technology and security infrastructure.
By equipping the Team’s existing infrastructure with its platform, Arctic Wolf will help ensure that the mission critical data and operations necessary for Red Bull Racing Honda to achieve success on and off track are protected at all times. System and network activity will be safely monitored 24/7 and 365 days a year, reducing potential exposure to computer systems at the Factory, Wind Tunnel, the Track and everywhere in between.
Welcoming Arctic Wolf as a Team partner, Christian Horner, CEO and Team Principal, Red Bull Racing Honda, said: “Modern Formula 1 is driven by data almost as much as it is by the incredible athletes behind the wheel. With vast amounts of information being generated in the creation of Red Bull Racing Honda’s cars and being sent from the track to the factory, every day protecting the competitive edge we work so hard to achieve is crucially important. Our partnership with Arctic Wolf will further enhance our cybersecurity operations and keep our data safe.”

Nick Schneider, President and Chief Executive Officer, Arctic Wolf, added: “Few businesses are as high-octane as Red Bull Racing Honda, and the racing team personifies the excitement and velocity of its global powerhouse brand. Formula 1 racing is an amazingly complex operation, much like cybersecurity, and every element of these operations needs to be fine-tuned and integrated for peak performance. We are confident that Arctic Wolf and our operational approach to cybersecurity is best-positioned to protect this energising brand.”

https://arcticwolf.com/f1/?utm_source=t ... nding+Page

[diffuser]

Honda introduced their upgraded battery mid season from the summer break.

Nope beginning of the year.

https://racer.com/2021/07/02/honda-exp ... pu-gains/

No.

Honda introduced new energy store after summer break.

Officially confirmed by honda themselves, along with a bunch of other articles from other publications
https://honda.racing/f1/post/new-energy-store-f1

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the- ... een-using/

Guess you are right. They did release a new battery version. Technicly that is part of the PU.

Doudt that made any differance on the straights though. It probably allowed for more ballast to be used. MIGHT have helped with balance at some tracks.

[Juzh]

Nope beginning of the year.

https://racer.com/2021/07/02/honda-exp ... pu-gains/

No.

Honda introduced new energy store after summer break.

Officially confirmed by honda themselves, along with a bunch of other articles from other publications
https://honda.racing/f1/post/new-energy-store-f1

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the- ... een-using/

Guess you are right. They did release a new battery version. Technicly that is part of the PU.

Doudt that made any differance on the straights though. It probably allowed for more ballast to be used. MIGHT have helped with balance at some tracks.

I mean it'd be kinda pointless to go trough all the trouble mentioned on honda's website for it to not offer any meaningful advantage. As you said it was almost certainly lighter, but probably also more compact, required less cooling, had better reliability and overall improved performance over race distance (not in peak power as that was 100% already maxed out).

[Tizz]

No.

Honda introduced new energy store after summer break.

Officially confirmed by honda themselves, along with a bunch of other articles from other publications
https://honda.racing/f1/post/new-energy-store-f1

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the- ... een-using/

Guess you are right. They did release a new battery version. Technicly that is part of the PU.

Doudt that made any differance on the straights though. It probably allowed for more ballast to be used. MIGHT have helped with balance at some tracks.

I mean it'd be kinda pointless to go trough all the trouble mentioned on honda's website for it to not offer any meaningful advantage. As you said it was almost certainly lighter, but probably also more compact, required less cooling, had better reliability and overall improved performance over race distance (not in peak power as that was 100% already maxed out).

If it produces less heat and is more compact, the whole PU becomes more compact and that will most likely provide advantages on the aero side of the equation.

[godlameroso]

If I were RBR, having Honda as a partner, I'd be getting setup data from all the Honda powered Indy car teams. Current gen Indy cars are ground effect cars and from their introduction, until now, they've developed the car's setup quite a bit. There has to be some useful information there seeing as next year's cars are also ground effect cars. GM's partnership with Honda could possibly make it even easier to get setup data from different teams. The only other team with an Indy car program is McLaren, but they only have the one squad vs how many GM and Honda powered cars.