Red Bull RB20

[christian.falavena]

Very clear now. Smaller letterbox inlet.

https://i.postimg.cc/44bkntS5/image.png

https://i.postimg.cc/pXWNjrNt/image.png

Are you all sure that the red Bybit line is in the same position as before? compared to the higher lip of the inlet it seems to be moved down, so not sure at all that is a good comparison reference

[Vanja #66]

Piola's photo, top-front view



It's all quite logical, yet so inelegant for my taste...

[organic]

Piola's photo, top-front view

Very fighter jet looking





Worth noting that the closed up side exits/louvres can be just due to circuit requirements. They had it closed up at Saudi also

[AR3-GP]

Very clear now. Smaller letterbox inlet.

https://i.postimg.cc/44bkntS5/image.png

https://i.postimg.cc/pXWNjrNt/image.png

Are you all sure that the red Bybit line is in the same position as before? compared to the higher lip of the inlet it seems to be moved down, so not sure at all that is a good comparison reference

I can’t guarantee it’s a perfect reference but you can also see that the distance of the sidepod inlet bottom to the s-duct inlet entrance is increased so it also confirms a change.

[organic]

Floor looks to be the same as before ? contrary to report from formu1a uno

AMuS

[Holm86]

Im pretty sure those inlets around the halo, the old one on the inside, and the new one on the outside is mostly there to collect cockpit losses, its better to use that for a small amount of cooling rather than having that turbulent flow reach the rear end.

[Xyz22]

Floor looks to be the same as before ? contrary to report from formu1a uno

AMuS
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKTvrO7WwAA ... &name=orig

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKTl19LaUAA ... &name=orig

Formu1a.uno wasn't the only one reporting a new floor IIRC so would be quite strange if that is indeed the same spec as before

[Cs98]

Maybe helps clean up cockpit losses that spill over under yaw?

No doubt it's a feature of the inlet. But on straights it still generates extra drag

and i would say it's more than 5mm of sidepod inlet

With rb19 they spent half the season increasing aspect ratio of inlet and redirecting more air to the undercut and ever since other teams have all worked to do the same.. so I'd say it's clearly a fruitful development path?

It's one thing to raise the underbite bottom edge 50mm and later 30mm more. It's another thing to raise it 5-10mm when it's already the shorter/overbite edge. You'll note this short extension does not change the form of the inlet now, it merely extends up and closely along the flow path - this makes the extension even less significant than it would be if the bottom edge was still underbite form. No doubt RB is reaching saturation of this area, unless they do something more radical next

I think you are underestimating the scale slightly, that's way more than 5mm. When you look at the removable panel on the side of the inlet it becomes more clear.

[Cs98]

Floor looks to be the same as before ? contrary to report from formu1a uno

AMuS
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKTvrO7WwAA ... &name=orig

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKTl19LaUAA ... &name=orig

Formu1a.uno wasn't the only one reporting a new floor IIRC so would be quite strange if that is indeed the same spec as before

Maybe they are just hiding it for now. The inlet obviously requires more prep time whereas the floor can be bolted on tomorrow, or between practice sessions, or different specs on both cars.

[ringo]

Unquestionably zeropods

On a serious note, I can't see any major benefit of taking away 5mm of sidepod inlet and redirecting it down the undercut... Extra inlet is jut a drag and loss generator. Internals aren't repackaged, so I'm hoping we see something more soon. Otherwise, it's an uncharacteristically underwhelming update from Red Bull.

It could be just a simple track specific adjustment. Looking at it, all they did was put a strip of carbon to close off the inlet a little more. Maybe they dont need as much cooling at Suzuka and closing the inlet off reduces the drag a little so they could have a little more wing.

The theme that is playing out is moving all the openings as high as posaible to reduce flow disturbance around the shoulders and floor.
They are making the car less sensitive to wing and wheel wake, and yaw transients.

[deadhead]

So many inlets.. are they just trying to absorb the boundary layer?

[Vanja #66]

It could be just a simple track specific adjustment. Looking at it, all they did was put a strip of carbon to close off the inlet a little more. Maybe they dont need as much cooling at Suzuka and closing the inlet off reduces the drag a little so they could have a little more wing.

I think you missed the 2 new inlets around the cockpit, hardly a drag reduction exercise

[AR3-GP]

It could be just a simple track specific adjustment. Looking at it, all they did was put a strip of carbon to close off the inlet a little more. Maybe they dont need as much cooling at Suzuka and closing the inlet off reduces the drag a little so they could have a little more wing.

I think you missed the 2 new inlets around the cockpit, hardly a drag reduction exercise

It is compensated by the reduction of the sidepod inlet cooling.

The drag associated with the cooling system is a function of the total required cooling power. Considering that they are still using a Honda engine, this hasn’t changed.

Enough of the games and telling us it’s pointless, draggy, and underwhelming. This is the world champion team. The track record speaks for itself.

[ringo]

It could be just a simple track specific adjustment. Looking at it, all they did was put a strip of carbon to close off the inlet a little more. Maybe they dont need as much cooling at Suzuka and closing the inlet off reduces the drag a little so they could have a little more wing.

I think you missed the 2 new inlets around the cockpit, hardly a drag reduction exercise

It's still drag reduction. They added a new hole with a certain area and they balance off that by removing that area from the inlet.
It's not one to one, as the upper opening is in a different location with different effect on drag. It wont have as much of a ram effect and drag as the frontal opening. It also doesnt impact flow around the sidepod as the frontal opening would.
So yeah it's drag but as you may hint there is something esle at play. That other factor may be efficiency.

[kediown]

The deflectors