How Red Bull has further improved its dominant RB19 F1 car

Red Bull arrived at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix with some interesting upgrades aimed at bringing more performance to the already dominant RB19.

Modifications are centered around the sides of the car, with the intake shape and bite corrected to improve flow to the radiators, coolers and accessories housed inside. Obviously, the remodeling will also have an influence on the external flow stream.

Red Bull has achieved this by widening the opening and increasing the leading edge of the bite, which alters the aspect ratio but shouldn’t affect volume dramatically.

This results in a win-win compromise between its cooling demands and the increased space in the undercut under the sidepod to provide more airflow to the rear of the car.

As a result of the widening of the bodywork around the intake, the rest of the sidepod geometry has also been subtly altered. This helps take advantage of the extra space provided by the undercut to improve both the physical interaction with the ground and its aerodynamic kinship.

In order to fully complement this handshake, the geometry of the floor edge and the aerodynamic furniture mounted on it have also been subtly reworked to increase performance as well.

To further leverage the efforts here, there is also an upstream change, with the outer floor fence being massaged at the top edge to better align local airflow and take advantage of changes made downstream .

Modifications have also been made to the rear brake duct fence, with one of the wings split in two, in order to better manage airflow in this region.

While other teams have introduced new lower downforce rear wing variants for the challenges of the Baku circuit, Red Bull have not, opting to use solutions that have already proven extremely powerful this season.

It’s likely to use a similar setup to that used in Australia, in fact, with its lower downforce rear wing option combined with the single-element lower beam wing.

Mercedes reduces drag

Mercedes also has a parts package at its disposal in Azerbaijan as it looks to make up for those that are up against it.

There is a mix of track-specific upgrades and development components underway, but with this weekend being the first of a new format featuring just one free practice session and four competitive sessions, the team has wisely opted for smaller modifications, ahead of the introduction of a larger package of parts expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

At the rear of the car, there are changes to both the rear wing in terms of the tip section of the end plate and the lower rear brake duct deflector.

The tip section has been an area where Mercedes has already focused its attention throughout this new regulation, with the team designing its end plate so that the section can be changed quickly without the need to completely disassemble the wing .

Subtle changes have been made to the shape of the endplate and toe section for Azerbaijan to improve flow around the top corner of the endplate, with several cut corners and filler panels still in its disposition.

Meanwhile, the lower rear brake deflector now has a three-level step profile, rather than the larger step that could be found on the W14 in the first three races of the season, as the team looks to improve local performance and attend to the diffuser on the side.

To improve cooling on a brake-demanding circuit, Mercedes has also increased the size of its rear-facing outlet, while changes have been made to the lower-arm fairing at the outer end, as the team seeks to improve how the airflow interacts with the ground behind.