Tech analysis: Red Bull throw kitchen sink at RB21 in bid to catch McLaren
Red Bull have arrived at the Belgian Grand Prix with a large suite of updates for the RB21, with alterations being made from front to back as they look to mount a challenge in their F1 2025 battle with McLaren.
The new parts include a revised front wing, front suspension fairings, sidepod bodywork and adjustments to the lower rear brake duct cascade.
Red Bull gives you more than just wings
Red Bull have introduced a new front wing configuration at the Belgian Grand Prix, which features changes to the camber and incidence of the mainplane and secondary flap, with the most obvious visual changes to be found in the outboard section (green arrows), whereby there’s some small changes to the twist geometry.
As a consequence of this and likely as another option at this venue and circuits with similar characteristics, they’ve also adjusted the layout of the upper flaps.
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The most eye-catching difference comes in the form of the upper flap, with not only a larger chord element being used in the static section beside the nose (white arrow), there’s also a significantly different shape applied to the trailing edge of the moveable flap (white dotted line for comparison), as the new design features a taller chorded central section, with a trimmed section beside.
There’s also a number of subtle changes made to the slot gap separator brackets in order to deal with the different flap profiles, whilst the nose tip is also a little different in terms of its shape too.
The changes made to the RB21’s front suspension fairings mirror what we’ve seen in terms of development from other teams on the grid, with the section closest to the chassis forming more of a winglet, altering how the airflow’s passage downstream.
Both the lead arm and rear leg of the upper wishbone have been reprofiled in this respect, with a scythe-shaped downwardly angled section added to the lead arm, whilst contrary to this, the rear leg has an upwardly swept element.
Downstream of those suspension alterations there’s some refinements made to the RB21’s sidepods as they not only look to increase the car’s cooling capabilities for this and future events. They’ve reportedly done so without sacrificing aerodynamic efficiency.
The horizontal and vertical inlets have now been merged, as we’ve seen many of their rivals already do, with the vertical portion of the inlet also widened, increasing their cooling capabilities whilst also altering the behaviour of the airflow as it passes through the undercut section.
The previously indented wall of the inlet (inset, arrowed) is now flat, resulting in some alterations to the surrounding surfaces and the size and shape of the vane hung from the underside of the sidepod (arrowed).
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