Red Bull RB22

[pantherxxx]

If Red Bull can make zeropods work, Toto will smash another headset.

[FW17]

If Red Bull can make zeropods work, Toto will smash another headset.

Those high side trenches behind the halo in 2024 car taken from the merc 2023 did not work

[SB15]

The difference being Mercedes were unaware of the downsides and never got the concept to work, RB saw that and still chose to pursue something similar. They wouldn't have done that on a whim, they must believe that this regulation is better suited for it, the question is why? The floor thing is clear, but the tyre wake situation isn't obvious yet.

Quite frankly I don't believe Mercedes has the chutzpah to pursue the zeropod again at the start of a new regulation, they've were burned too badly last time. The rest of the teams I don't think could pull it off.

To me, if you're trying to get as much outwash was possible in these regulations, the zero-pod or anything kinda similar wouldn't be a choice. Redbull frankly yes, could make it work to its potential! But what shocked me was that Mercedes didn't even want to go to a design similar to the W10-W12. So no I don't believe it was them being "burned", they found probably found it "not ideal" for this particular type of car.

[FW17]

Car is running flat? surprising....

[HungarianRacer]

I think you all are getting ahead of yourselves calling this a new "zeropod" design... Starting from 2018, Red Bull themselves had the side impact structure form the lower lip of their sidepod inlet (although it was shrouded), a solution that all other teams adopted in the following years, in 2019 Mercedes even had a "conventional" sidepod so narrow that the impact cone was sticking out to the side even in it's highermost allowed position...

There's definitely value in having as much floor area exposed as possible alone, we could see in the beginning of 2022 in early hobbyist CFD simulations that even the initial "micropod" Mercedes car that debuted in Barcelona was generating more downforce than larger-sidepod designs at the cost of increased drag (albeit that was with standardized wings and floor design, so not entirely representative, obviously)...

What surprises me a bit is the fact that beside being very narrow, these Red Bull pods have basically no undercuts at all, by which choice - I believe - they are depriving themselves of at least one of the few "outwash-encouraging" tools they still have remaining in this regset (undercuts usually generate considerable stagnation inboard behind the front wheels).

[ScottB]

Probably looks closer to the RB-16B than any zero pod Merc

[TeamKoolGreen]

It looks more like the 2022 launch spec Williams. But it does seem like Wacha liked the W13. First he tried the cannons in 2024. Now they are making the sidepods as compact as possible with the exposed crash structures.

[f1isgood]

RB20 had an extreme cooling solution that did not work. So they reverted to the RB19 solution on the RB21 and fixed their issues over the last year. It's not unlikely that along the way they found out why the RB20 didn't work and decided that for high gains you have to do more compact cooling which probably results in these sidepod structure.

Wache called RB20 a high ceiling car and RB21 a lower ceiling car. If it works they probably have a lot of potential to develop.

[Badger]

The difference being Mercedes were unaware of the downsides and never got the concept to work, RB saw that and still chose to pursue something similar. They wouldn't have done that on a whim, they must believe that this regulation is better suited for it, the question is why? The floor thing is clear, but the tyre wake situation isn't obvious yet.

Quite frankly I don't believe Mercedes has the chutzpah to pursue the zeropod again at the start of a new regulation, they've were burned too badly last time. The rest of the teams I don't think could pull it off.

To me, if you're trying to get as much outwash was possible in these regulations, the zero-pod or anything kinda similar wouldn't be a choice. Redbull frankly yes, could make it work to its potential! But what shocked me was that Mercedes didn't even want to go to a design similar to the W10-W12. So no I don't believe it was them being "burned", they found probably found it "not ideal" for this particular type of car.

Getting as much outwash as possible may not be necessary. They could be getting enough outwash/upwash with the new barge-boards and sidepod as is (we haven't seen its true profile from the front yet so the "zeropod" moniker may be slightly exaggerated). The tyres are smaller too so the outwash demand should be reduced. And who knows what happens when the front wing is opened, the increase in clean mass flow hitting the sidepod and barge-board area could reduce the need for big sidepods to generate sufficient outwash. There are a lot of subtle differences between now and then that make it hard to draw conclusions. Bottom line is RB is likely aware of all this and still opted to pursue a small form factor. Merc may have had good reasons to not do it again, or they may have had bad reasons, as in being scarred by the past.

[zibby43]

Not a “zero pod.” Great packaging nonetheless, though. As I would expect.

https://x.com/carpentiers_f1/status/201 ... w2eCbwUjFA

[Gridlock]

Does the ability to open such a large hole in the side of the diffuser make slenderpods? more feasible, by reducing a high pressure area inboard of the rear wheels and thus lowering their drag? Especially if you're going for inwash?

[Badger]

Not a “zero pod.” Great packaging nonetheless, though. As I would expect.

https://x.com/carpentiers_f1/status/201 ... w2eCbwUjFA

Those differences are rather marginal and dependent on camera angles. I would wait for a good frontal shot before I call whether or not it is really a "zeropod". If we are being pedantic the Merc wasn't a real "zeropod" either since it had a lot of sidepod volume towards the floor; based on first impressions RB doesn't have as much volume down low but may have more volume further up, kind of like launch spec W14.

[Badger]

Bigfoot spotted! I repeat, Bigfoot has been spotted wandering through the woods.
https://x.com/SoyMotor/status/201582040 ... 35/photo/1

[FW17]

more like an rb 15 sidepod

[Emag]

I think we can draw similarities from the zeropod, primarily because the bodywork is very tapered and there’s not as much of a “sharply defined” line that separates the sidepods from the engine cover.

In practice though, they’re not the same. The inlet alone makes a relatively big difference on how airflow is affected downstream.

After looking into more angles, I think I stand by my first statement. This looks a lot like a more extreme W17 and quite in-line with what we were seeing from RedBull pre 2022. Between W17 and RB22 I think you can see the silhouette of a similarly shaped sidepod. The main difference is that RedBull doesn’t really need an undercut as their sidepod is already half as wide as Mercedes’ is at the midpoint.

The coke bottle era though is different. And what that means in how everything is handled at the rear is not really something I have the capacity to explain. Maybe some aero people could weigh in.