Breaking news
Formula 1
Red Bull plans "fairly subtle" upgrade package for Spain
Red Bull is planning a "fairly subtle" upgrade for the Spanish Grand Prix, having "closed the gap" to Formula 1 pacesetters Mercedes and Ferrari since the start of 2019.
Scott Mitchell
Published: May 2, 2019, 8:41 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The team scored a podium in the first race of the season on its debut with Honda engines but finished fourth in the three races that followed.
Last year Red Bull introduced a major upgrade package at Barcelona, including revised sidepods, bargeboards and floor, but team boss Christian Horner has suggested it will be smaller this time.
"It's fairly subtle and it's just evolution," he said. "It will be the usual front and rear wing upgrades. It's evolution rather than revolution."
Horner explained that the developments focused on "different aspects of balance, on degradation and all of those things".
Red Bull struggled with tyre warm-up in Azerbaijan, but its race pace was quicker than both Ferrari and Mercedes.
The team has made solid progress since identifying a problem with its set-up in Bahrain and was closer to Mercedes and Ferrari in China and Azerbaijan.
"I think we've closed the gap since the beginning of the year," said Horner. "In Melbourne we had a strong race and Max was pushing Lewis the majority of that grand prix.
"Bahrain was a tough race for us but it exposed some things that we've managed to improve on since then. China was a stronger race, and [Azerbaijan] even more so – and on a track that doesn't historically play to our strengths.
"We're looking forward to heading back to Europe now and we have a few circuits coming up now that should really suit us."
Red Bull has embarked upon a steady upgrade path through the beginning of the season, addressing several changes all around the car.
Firstly, the team consolidated its research from pre-season testing by running a new bargeboard package in Australia.
Testing had been limited by Pierre Gasly's week two crash at Campsa, but the team saw enough potential to persevere with the concept.
Red Bull RB15 bargeboards, captioned
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
This was done by breaking a sidepod turning vane into two, redistributing the airflow around the shrunken sidepods.
The team also changed the front wing ahead of Bahrain, introducing a small cut in the third element and shortening the top element to satisfy the nuances of the maximum allowable wing profile regulations.
Red Bull RB15 front wing, Chinese GP
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
This offered a bit more control over the inboard rotation of air produced here, boosting its power.
Further changes were mandated by an FIA directive, and Red Bull had to close up a cutout which exposed the rear-most section of wing, which presented a puncture risk.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Wolff: Past tyre knowledge "not so relevant" in 2019
Next article Leclerc "having a negative effect" on Ferrari - Villeneuve
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
Red Bull Racing
“Just a disaster” – How Isack Hadjar’s nightmare Singapore F1 weekend unfolded
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
5 h
“Just a disaster” – How Isack Hadjar’s nightmare Singapore F1 weekend unfolded
Latest news
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
"Extremely difficult": Calendar clashes threaten Marco Wittmann's DTM future
DTM
DTM DTM 1 h
"Extremely difficult": Calendar clashes threaten Marco Wittmann's DTM future
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe