By Carlo Platella
From the track, the challenge between Red Bull and McLaren moves to the factory. At Silverstone, the world champions show up with an updated chassis, which embodies the fourth specification since the start of the season. The English news completes the third package of updates inaugurated with the Barcelona side-pods. The home Grand Prix will offer interesting feedback to understand if the updates will allow to regain an advantage over McLaren.
Extraordinary packaging
Among the distinctive features of the Silverstone bottom, the remodelling of the upper surface in the most advanced part stands out. This is an area that has been subject to changes since the beginning of the seasonwith the previous modifications made first at Suzuka and then at Imola. At Milton Keynes we try to make the external carbon skins adhere as closely as possible to the underlying elements, above all the lateral anti-intrusion cone and the various electronic components.
Even more than for the possible aerodynamic benefits, Red Bull continues to amaze with its work on packagingor the compaction of all the internal components of the car. The RB20 is an extreme car from this point of view, leading several insiders to wonder how in Milton Keynes they manage to dig out the sides and the floor despite the inevitable presence of various hydraulic and electronic parts. The work done since the beginning of the season on the floor is further proof of a team that never stops improving the already extreme packaging of the single-seater, in the constant search for further aerodynamic gains.
Waiting for the stopwatch
The work done on the upper part of the floor is one of the very few changes that can be appreciated from the outside on the Silverstone RB20. However, the car probably hides other news in the lower part of the fundthe most relevant for performance. The same goes for the outer edge, which according to the documents released by the Federation has been retouched along the central rise that acts as a lateral diffuser, but whose differences compared to the previous specification are hardly perceptible. The stopwatch will therefore be the only true judge of the work carried out in Milton Keynes, with the Silverstone circuit representing the best test bench to evaluate the aerodynamic innovations.
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