Red Bull is considered a rocket in Canada. Max Verstappen led the time table in the two free practice sessions, so it can be said that the RB18 is showing evident superiority, even if the gap from Charles Leclerc was only 81 thousandths, with the Monegasque having used only a train of soft to look for performance while the track was rubberizing.
It is questionable, therefore, if Carlos Sainz will be able to go on the attack of his first pole position, lengthening the sequence of shots from the Monegasque’s pole, but in the Milton Keynes team they are perfectly aware that the points are distributed on Sundays and not after qualifying, which will probably be wet (even if the weather is still good in Montreal now).
Red Bull RB18: here is the fully sealed front carbon basket
Indeed, Adrian Newey’s engineers know they have a fast and competitive car on their hands, but they are by no means certain that they have achieved the necessary reliability. Leclerc’s retirements, while he was leading in Spain and Azerbaijan, greatly facilitated the task of Verstappen and Perez, because they found themselves in an easy position to manage the advantage without taking the material to the limit, covering any weaknesses of the RB18. .
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Red Bull is a F1 “construction site” in constant evolution: in spite of the budget cap, there is no race that does not modify details or important parts of the package, working on three guidelines: reliability, weight reduction, search for performance.
If we were to judge from the results (five victories in a row) the first point should not be a concern and, instead, the staff directed by Pierre Waché dedicates time and resources to the theory so dear to Mina that… the important thing is to finish.
The keen eye of Giorgio Piola managed to find a solution that Red Bull would have liked to keep hidden inside the baskets: the Milton Keynes team decided to invest in the brake system in an attempt to solve the problems of overheating in the corners.
After completing the transition from metal disc covers to lighter carbon ones padded with insulating material, they wanted to debut the new Brembo calipers on a track like the one in Montreal which is very selective for the brakes.
Red Bull RB18: here is the caliper in the traditional aluminum color, without the new anti-heat treatment
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The solution brought to Canada is easily recognizable by the color of the caliper which is no longer the classic aluminum-lithium we know well, but is now much darker. The mouths inside the team, of course, are very stitched, but it is reasonable to think that a new heat treatment has been experimented that favors the dispersion of heat inside the basket which is closed.
Detail of the new Brembo brake caliper made with Red Bull: the caliper is dark due to a new chemical treatment
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Red Bull is trying to grow on an aspect in which the F1-75 seemed superior: in braking Charles Leclerc built some of his extraordinary laps in qualifying. In Milton Keynes they are trying to trim down the Monegasque driver, to transform a weak point due to frequent overheating, into a performance reason …
#Red #Bull #antioverheating #brake #calipers