F1 | Red Bull RB18: data collection is not over

Ferrari heads the time table and Mercedes is discussing the aerodynamic choices, but no one talks about Red Bull.

The world champion team is collecting a lot of data for the development of the RB18 waiting for news to arrive in Sakhir: in the morning in the paddock a new fund from Milton Keynes was delivered that we will probably see in the afternoon, if not tomorrow.

Yesterday Sergio Perez covered the distance of two and a half GPs: the Mexican worked hard to find a basic set up in an attempt to limit the negative effect of porpoising and avoid locking the front wheels under braking.

Max Verstappen today made runs alternating with long pit stops with Adrian Newey very careful in following the growth of the RB18. The technicians directed by Pierre Wache did not hesitate to instrument the car even in unusual places: the Pitot tubes mounted on the sides of the two camera cars on the bonnet are very visible, the sensors that have been placed at the entrance to the vents are much less observable. of the radiators in the bellies and, above all, in the rear extractor of the rear diffuser.

Red Bull Racing RB18, detail of the diffuser with sensors

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Adrian Newey’s car is hiding and Milton Keynes’s team is able to work peacefully in anonymity and without too much pressure. It would be a very serious mistake to underestimate the value of the RB18, the car with perhaps the most extreme mechanical solutions: the front pull rod suspension is a real spectacle with the pull rod scheme designed to guarantee an aerodynamic advantage in exploiting the kinematics as the first. flow diverters.

Red Bull Racing RB18, the front suspension with a pull rod scheme: the mechanic adjusts the height

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

A concern that emerged in Bahrain is the consumption of gasoline: with the E10 bio fuel the Honda engine seemed more thirsty than expected, in addition to having paid a few less horsepower in maximum power.