Red Bull has decided: at Spa Francorchamps we will see two RB20s equipped with bazookas, that is to say in the “old” configuration, parking the version that debuted with Max Verstappen in Hungary. Pierre Waché, technical director of the Milton Keynes team, admitted this morning that on a track like the Belgian one, where aerodynamic efficiency counts a lot, it is right to return to the previous configuration.
Max Verstappen, always very direct in his statements, did not hide his disappointment after missing out on pole position by 46 thousandths of a second behind the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Red Bull RB20: here is the version that debuted in Hungary with Verstappen to improve cooling and downforce
Picture of: George Piola
“We brought some updates, but it’s still not enough, so I’m frustrated. I was hoping to do more with these updates. In the past races, whether it’s a fast or slow track, whether it’s hot or cold, we’ve been beaten in pure pace. On Thursday I called this weekend crucial, so I’m frustrated, I expected more. The updates work, our new features have always worked, but they’re just not the step forward we were hoping for.”
The Dutchman is encouraging the Milton Keynes team to keep two development avenues open: the RB20 without the bazooka for high-downforce tracks like the Hungaroring, and the RB20 with the old configuration for fast tracks.
It is curious to note that when Ferrari carried out comparison tests at Silverstone between two configurations of the SF-24, it was said that it was a sign of the weakness of the Maranello team, uncertain about the development to take, after the latest innovations had not given the results that had been seen in the wind tunnel and in the simulator.
![Red Bull RB20: Air ducts for cooling revealed behind Max's head](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/YBeO7RW2/s1000/red-bull-racing-rb20-technical.jpg)
Red Bull RB20: Air ducts for cooling revealed behind Max’s head
Picture of: George Piola
Now that it is the world champion Red Bull that is taking advantage of two different upgrade packages, it seems that the Milton Keynes team is making the most of the opportunities available to it. In reality, it is fair to believe that each team is putting the best product on the track from all the material that has been produced within the constraints of the budget cap.
The slimmer body of the RB20, designed just for Verstappen (there weren’t enough spare parts for Sergio Perez because it was a development that was supposed to debut in Holland only), ensures more vertical thrust and improves cooling of the power unit components, while the standard version appears to be more efficient.
It is reasonable to think that the difference in lap time is not so great in favor of one version or the other, but the choice offers opportunities that can be verified more on the race pace than on a single lap.
There is no doubt that Red Bull has lost the lead to McLaren, but it is clear that the team led by Christian Horner is trying to react to the attack of the Woking team. Max’s nervousness testifies that in Milton Keynes they have lost the advantage they had acquired last year, when they only put an update on the track when their opponents seemed to be getting closer, maintaining a margin that had made them uncatchable.
The situation has changed profoundly: it was said that the RB20 was an extreme project born from a blank sheet of paper, because the RB19 had no more room for development. The fact that the evolution we saw appear in Budapest seems to be pushing towards the past, indicates that perhaps even in Milton Keynes they have lost some certainties that they had.
![Red Bull RB20: this is the new wing configuration used by Verstappen among the four available](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0k7ObvV0/s1000/red-bull-racing-rb20-technical.jpg)
Red Bull RB20: this is the new wing configuration used by Verstappen among the four available
Picture of: George Piola
It went unnoticed, but Red Bull experimented with four front wing configurations during the Hungarian weekend between Sergio and Max. These are very different solutions that can be finalized for use on tracks with specific characteristics. We are moving towards an increasingly greater specialization in the use of individual parts that will offer different options in the evolution of the single-seaters.
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