From the season launch photographs and shakedown runs at Silverstone, it appeared that Red Bull had decided to go for an experimental side pod design that Mercedes actually employed at the start of the 2022 regulations reset. The Silver Arrows quickly realized their flawed understanding of that concept and binned it midway last season. Now, team boss Toto Wolff has made his thoughts known on the Red Bulls, apparently inspired by his team’s failed endeavor.
While giving his thoughts on the RB20 as pre-season testing commenced at the Bahrain International Circuit, the Austrian explained that he was not too bothered by what the Red Bulls had decided to do with the ‘zero-pod’ concept. Rather, his team had decided not to pursue that particular design philosophy after realizing its mishaps.
After the first morning of 2024 pre-season testing, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff gives first thoughts on the W15 and says “the mood in the camp is positive”.#F1 #MercedesAMGF1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/VM34g77iqG
— Car Man (@CarManToday) February 21, 2024
Auto Motor und Sport quoted him as saying (as reported on X (formerly Twitter)), “Each team pursues its own direction of development. And what you think works, you then implement. We have moved away from our zero pod concept and have moved to a rather conservative side box solution because we think it is the better way for us.”
As it turns out, the Milton-Keynes-based team hasn’t actually copied Mercedes. Rather, they have put their own spin on an unconventional side pod design. While teams aim to increase the surface area of their side pods by employing large horizontal inlets to ensure maximum airflow to the diffuser, the Red Bulls have introduced smaller, slimmer vertical and horizontal inlets instead.
Red Bull’s clever Mercedes clone finally exposed
The launch pictures of the RB20 successfully camouflaged the real design behind Adrian Newey’s latest masterpiece. However, pre-season testing has finally given us a proper insight into how the sidepods actually look and work on the RB20.
Red Bull has decided to employ a three-fold intake system on their chassis to enhance the aerodynamic optimization and cooling of the car. The 2-in-1 side pod design is also complemented by another air intake placed right behind the cockpit and around both of the roll hoops that will enhance the cooling of the car without compromising much with the ill effects of drag, per Racefans.net.
Red Bull has begun to reveal key details of the aggressive new sidepods on its RB20 #F1 car
Here’s a first look and what it is aiming to achieve ⬇️https://t.co/752CQr0FE6
— Autosport (@autosport) February 21, 2024
Testing times are never considered relevant, but Max Verstappen looks like he’s at one with the RB20 already. As day 1 of the pre-season ended at 7:00 PM local time in Bahrain, Verstappen set the fastest time, 1 minute 31.344 seconds. This was a full one-second+ faster than P2 man, Lando Norris (McLaren).
