Adrian Newey wanted to keep the Red Bull secret as long as possible. In the Milton Keynes team they were exposed to heavy criticism for presenting the RB18 without the… car, but only with the livery on the FIA show car.
The Stratford-upon-Avon genius has a strong persuasive power within the world champion team and this attitude has put rival teams in great alarm.
Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s RB18 project manager
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The RB18 is a concentrate of interesting solutions but, often, Adrian’s “revolutions” require some time to be developed, although it should not be surprising if the “drinkers” did not particularly shine in the Barcelona tests, even if they collected a lots of useful information for the development of a car that stands out from all the others.
The discovery of the car took place on the track on the first day of testing in Montmelò and all attention was focused on the strange aerodynamic look with the belly preceded by the huge “tray” and on the side that is hollowed out like no other below. of the radiator outlets.
It would be a serious mistake, however, to stop at the forms of Red Bull, because Newey is perhaps the only designer who has the complete vision of a Formula 1 and is a technician who knows it in detail in every bolt.
Max Verstappen in the Red Bull RB18 showing a very hollowed belly at the front
Photo by: Erik Junius
The first description of his cars can never be exhaustive because the British engineer associates aerodynamic choices with mechanical solutions in a mix of novelties that must be discovered and analyzed a little at a time.
Adrian’s ability is to know how to re-propose concepts that are known and very usual to him, with unprecedented realizations. The most striking example is given by the front suspension which has become a pull rod scheme, giving up the characteristic strut of recent years.
Having the FIA imposed much lower noses for safety reasons (to avoid that the noses could be too high in the side impact of another car, penetrating into the frame despite the anti-intrusion cones), Red Bull has decided to move the weights of the internal kinematics of the suspension on the floor of the body, allowing a significant lowering of the center of gravity of the car.
With Adrian, however, we must never stop at the first function of a solution he introduced: the second innovative aspect is that the upper triangle has been broken down into two multi-link arms. The connections to the hub carrier are offset, but the arms are also misaligned: the front one is anchored at the highest point of the frame, while the rear one is pivoted to the body much lower.
Anti-dive effect, of course, but every element of the suspension, in the absence of turning vane and bargeboard prohibited by the FIA, becomes an effective flow separator with aerodynamic functions.
The surprise of the RB18 is that Newey has managed to reproduce concepts that he has developed over time, given that his working philosophy is that nothing is thrown away in F1 and every solution can find a new application as the rules change.
Red Bull Racing RB18, detail of the front suspension with the single upper arm
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
It should not be surprising, therefore, if Adrian reversing the front suspension from a push to pull scheme, has also taken steps to raise the single arm that directly connects the two wheels, obviously passing inside the frame.
Red Bull Racing RB16 front suspension: the single arm that passed into the body was at the bottom
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The image of Giorgio Piola clearly shows us how the single arm that was part of the lower triangle of the RB16 and RB16B has been transferred to the upper part of the front suspension, reproducing an idea that has already proven to work well with the two body fixings.
Previously a similar solution had been adopted by Ferrari on the F2002 and was then also developed on the F2004, the most successful red of the Michael Schumacher era.
Ferrari F2002, detail of the front suspension with the single arm
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Newey also decided to fix the front height adjustment system in the middle of the pull rod: the rod, with this suspension scheme, is subjected to forces that are the smallest part compared to those that a strut of the push rod scheme, for which the adjustable part has been placed in the middle of the tie rod, in a position where the mechanics are more easily able to intervene, while previously it was near the attachment of the lever (with a much larger diameter ) to the body.
Red Bull Racing RB18: height adjustment fixed in the middle of the pull rod tie rod (in yellow)
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Let’s make no mistake: the RB18 has other well-hidden peculiarities that have yet to be found, the hunt continues …
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