Red Bull is in pole position for the Miami GP, but Max Verstappen does not have the feeling of being able to count on a devastating superiority as on other occasions. Charles Leclerc in qualifying came within 141 thousandths of the three-time world champion’s RB20 and Fred Vasseur did not hesitate to admit that the Maranello team was expecting a possible pole start.
The Dutchman’s car seemed slightly more aerodynamically loaded than the SF-24 and certain choices would have been made based on the life of the tires, in a race that is scheduled for a single stop, despite the awareness of a better top speed at speed trap: Max reached 342.7 km/h in qualifying, while Leclerc stopped at 339.7 km/h.
Red Bull Racing RB20 radiator diagram
Picture of: Giorgio Piola
The RB20, to combat the heat in the capital of Florida (about thirty degrees in the air which becomes almost fifty on the asphalt!), decided on a very open version that would guarantee good heat evacuation at the cost of losing something in efficiency aerodynamics of the complex cooling system which has been divided into four distinct elements, each of which is powered by its own specific air intake and a relative vent.
Red Bull RB20: how the gills on the sides of the bazooka change
Picture of: Giorgio Piola
Red Bull, in fact, has opened the lateral gills that vent the heat from the service radiators mounted inside the bazooka. And so far there is nothing strange, except that there are conspicuous openings even in the corrugated part of the bonnet which are not easy to observe except from a shot from the rear.
The option with two slits had already been seen during the start of the season, but in Miami the aerodynamicists also preferred to open an additional portion of the concave area of the engine cover so as not to call into question the proverbial reliability of the Honda RBPT power unit H002.
Ferrari, on the other hand, has four gills on each side on the SF-24’s bazooka to defend the second 066/12 engine just out of the oven for the appointment on the American street circuit which is the sixth of the 2024 championship which is made up of 24 GPs in calendar.
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