In The Race’s Live Hub coverage of practice, I commented on how intricate the detail on the outer edge of the underfloor on the Red Bulls floor is. The images below show just how important Red Bull believes that area really is.
The difference between Red Bull’s Hungary specification and the Spa spec shows how Red Bull has changed the detail to cope with the very high-speed, low-ride-height corners at Spa, as opposed to the predominantly medium-speed corners in Hungary.
If Red Bull hadn’t revisited this area for Spa, it would probably have had to run with a higher rear ride height. So this shows its depth of understanding of ground effect and the side-sealing characteristics that give the best consistency.
As for the engine cover and sidepods, it tidied up the shaded area and opened up the area between the upper cooling exit and the top of the sidepods.
This would possibly be to reduce the cooling requirement for Spa as the ambient temperature is lower than in Hungary.
But also, the average speed is much higher so the cooling package is much more efficient. Overall, it will improve the overall efficiency of the complete car and Red Bull has said this change improves the cooling range of the car with fewer negatives when it is opened up.
There is also a small change to the rear view mirror mounting system. The section underneath used to stop halfway, but now it is full length.
This detail around the mirror is helping the airflow to close into the void behind the mirror lens, in turn reducing the drag and the turbulence created by that void.
