The reason behind Red Bull’s resurgence

For all that there’s been plenty of chat about how much Red Bull’s improved form has come about in the wake of the team listening more to Max Verstappen, there’s another more physical reason behind the competitive upturn, one which has been the subject of some secrecy.

Asked post-Singapore on his Viaplay channel if there was any specific change responsible for the improvement from Zandvoort onwards, Verstappen gave a smiling reply of, “Yes. But nobody needs to know that,” before going on to reassure the interviewer, “That’s fine. It doesn’t matter because I’m not going to say anything. The important thing is that we perform better.”

“I’m saying nothing. The important thing is that we perform better”

What is it? Well, Red Bull – and Mercedes – has been very hard at work reintroducing the extensive front wing flex which was initially restricted by the tech directive in effect since the Spanish Grand Prix. Ways have been found to achieve the same effect while still respecting the more restrictive static load compliance test of the wing assembly and the flaps (or elements) within it.

The technical directive in effect since Spain stipulates that the assembly is allowed to flex by no more than 10mm (previously 15mm) when a 100kg load is applied to both sides. When that load is applied to only one side of the car the flex can be no more than 15mm (previously 20mm). For the flaps themselves a 6kg weight applied at any point can’t result in more than 3mm of flex at the trailing edge (previously 5mm).

While this made it more difficult to have the wing flex in the desired way, it still in principle allows it to do so once the loads exceed those used for the static test. The complication in doing that is reflected in how long it has taken for the new flexi wings to appear.

The Red Bull version was introduced to the RB21 at Zandvoort. For Singapore it was made yet-more flexible by moving the flap adjuster hooks between the upper two elements a couple of centimetres further inboard, allowing the air pressure atop the wing to apply more leverage to the outboard ends.

This programme has transformed the Red Bull because the car’s big limitation was low-speed understeer. The centre of pressure of its underfloor did not migrate far enough forwards at low speeds but applying more front wing to correct this would make the rear unstable into high-speed corners. With a huge front wing to give all the front-end bite necessary at low speeds but which flexes downwards at high speeds to be less powerful, so it is now balanced in both low speed and high. So the big front wing was even used at the low-downforce demands of Monza and Baku in combination with a skinny rear wing. Suddenly, the car could be set up relatively easily. They were no longer having to make wild changes from one day to the next. It’s been like that since the introduction of the new wing in Zandvoort. Verstappen’s results sequence since then has been 2-1-1-2-1, reviving his previously moribund title chances.

Mercedes, perhaps with a less-powerful floor, has had a less extreme version of the same problem; it was prone to either high-speed instability or low-speed over-stability (i.e. understeer). So its competitiveness relative to the others was significantly better before the new interpretation of TD18 from Spain. Correlation is not the same as causation – other factors could have been more important in determining that pattern than the tech directive – but aero flex remained a key area of competitive endeavour even after the new tech directive. As was always going to be the case.

At Spa Mercedes introduced a front wing with a bigger chord (the depth) to the second element (the same change Red Bull had made at Hungary) and a smaller chord for the first element. This may well have redistributed the vortices forming off the tip of the wing in a way more favourable to the aero surfaces downstream. But what it will also have done is enhance the aero elasticity at the sort of loads seen at high speed. A further tweak was made to this wing in Singapore – and the onboard camera clearly showed the extent of the flexing. George Russell took this car to victory there from pole.

Coming back to the point about causation and correlation not always being the same thing, at Red Bull the new wing came one race after Laurent Mekies replaced Christian Horner. But it was coming anyway. The upturn in form would almost certainly have been the same without the boss change. Which puts into a clearer perspective Mekies’ consistent claims of his contribution to the upturn being “zero” and how it has been all about hard work at the factory coming to fruition. He wasn’t just being modest. Although he has taken the reins of the team well, the big tests are yet to come.

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