This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
I would not say the RB21 suits front limited circuits or that it does not like rear limited circuits anymore than the Mclaren favors these track types. There are so many factors to consider. On the first day of testing in Bahrain when it was much cooler than usual, Red Bull had a similar pace to Mclaren. The car can work in Bahrain, but it was just too hot during the GP weekend.
I think it's just the case that the RB21 does not like hot weather because the tires overheat. If a circuit is hot and has a certain kind of tarmac (all contributing to increasing tire temps), they will do poorly irrespective of front or rear limits.
I think Red Bull will be better in Jeddah simply because it lacks medium speed corners, it's an extremely smooth tarmac with low deg, and Red Bull have a good DRS system. If a rear limited circuit had the same conditions, they would also do well.
That's interesting because in Japan Horner mentioned weight distribution as one of the things they played with to improve the car. The internal changes could also be in preparation for Imola (or Miami) aero package.
They may be lowering some of the masses under the engine cover. Maybe some heat exchangers and the ducting.
I am not sure how much they can do with weight distribution longitudinally unless they change control arms and fool arund with wheel base.
Verstappen’s first pit-stop during the Bahrain Grand Prix, swapping from softs to hards, was over four seconds as the Dutch driver waited for the signal to change to release him – a signal which didn’t come.
Moments later, Yuki Tsunoda suffered a similarly slow stop, with the yellow middle light flashing along with the red light for the Japanese driver, who flagged the issue over team radio.
The problem has since been identified, with an electrical specialist within the team tracing the problem back to an issue within the pit gantry, halfway across the beam. The issue manifested itself by failing to register the four wheel guns as going ‘green’ to signal to the lights that the wheel nut had been tightened.
I also think that in addition to Red Bull's own upgrades and any TD repercussions, Red Bull can also expect Mclaren to be slowed because Mclaren has the least development time and it wil stay that way for the foreseeable future whereas Red Bull has the potential to fall to 4th in the WCC by the end of June. This extra windtunnel time could lend itself to an end of season fight back without sacrificing 2026 so much.
“I think it’s clear we understand what the problem is, it’s implementing the solution. It’s the entry phase into the mid-corner that needs addressing and giving him [Verstappen] the ability and grip and confidence that takes carry speed into entry of corners, now that’s fundamentally an aero issue that we need to be able to give him that grip."
Team principal Christian Horner told the media, including PlanetF1.com.
So maybe they want to solve this by moving the centre of aerodynamic pressure back?
Verstappen is famous for being able to handle a car that’s “on the edge” with a looser rear end than most drivers would tolerate. But even he needs a baseline level of stability to extract maximum performance.
Rearward CoP = more vertical load on the rear axle.
Shifting CoP back reduces that front bias and calms the rotation down → entry becomes more controllable.
If it works it could be a game changer in terms of overall performance.
They may be lowering some of the masses under the engine cover. Maybe some heat exchangers and the ducting.
I am not sure how much they can do with weight distribution longitudinally unless they change control arms and fool arund with wheel base.
Lowering mass distribution is their second objective just after lowering mass. If they could, they would have done already.
The car doesn’t look strong yet, but FP1 was held in hot daylight conditions. Qualifying and the race will be at night, with track temperatures about 12-14°C lower—more similar to conditions in Suzuka.
