'Closed' bellies a decoy?
“All cars have weaknesses. The RB19, for example, suffered on street circuits. The weaknesses of the RB20? We need more races on other circuits to answer this question, I have some ideas, but they are details.” As Max Verstappen he described his first impact with the Red Bull RB20 with which he has already achieved two victories in as many races in 2024. The legacy of the RB19 is practically impossible to match: in 2023 Red Bull won 21 races out of 22, failing only at Singapore.
Red Bull on the Marina Bay circuit he got the setup wrong failing to find the right solution in time for Qualifying and the Race. In Milton Keynes, in the genesis of the RB20, the difficulties highlighted by its previous sister on high aerodynamic load circuits were taken into account and it is above all in this aspect that the work of the technicians under Adrian Newey was concentrated.
“We tried to get a car that was reasonably suited to all circuits – has explained Adrian Newey podcast host F1 Nation – I think that last year, in general, the circuits where we had the least advantages were the road ones with the greatest downforce. In Singapore we messed up a bit and underperformed what we could have achieved. We could certainly have achieved the podium if we had worked better on the set-up. The basic architecture of the car is the third generation evolution of what was born as the RB18, the big news are the radiators (i.e. their arrangement). The visible parts, which have attracted some attention, are obviously those that allow for aerodynamic improvements. The visual change is actually much more impactful than the actual performance gain that results. The other, much more subtle changes that people didn't notice are probably responsible for the bigger performance gains“.
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