Red Bull Racing finally unveiled the 2022 F1 machine “RB18” on the first day of the F1 Barcelona test, revealing why they were so secretive.
Red Bull Racing, which has been a frequent innovation in machine design, has created a new and impressive machine in line with the new F1 regulations. The overall design philosophy is Adrian Newey’s distinctive style, with a clear focus on optimizing aerodynamics aggressively.
Perhaps the most eye-catching feature of the Red Bull RB18 “real car” is the side pods. This concept is different from the other concepts found in this area.
The Red Bull concept aims to find a balance between producing a downwash for the diffuser at the rear of the machine and guiding the air through aggressive undercuts.
The Red Bull RB18 has a “tray” in front of the inlet on the front of the side pods (1). This helps separate the side pods from the floor and further extend the inflow to an aggressive undercut.
Towards the rear of the side pods, the lower half of the side pods flare out and are fairly wide, at the expense of undercuts, to generate downwash (2). This is in sharp contrast to Mercedes’ philosophy, which aims to tighten the rear of the machine as much as possible.
When viewed from the front, the side pod openings are rectangular and wide, but shorter in height to accommodate undercuts. The side view shows how short the first part of the side pod is due to the undercut. This indicates that the internal radiator needs to be very compact and steep.
The side pods spread wide toward almost the full width of the car. This is similar to Ferrari’s concept and aims to push the tire wake as much as possible.
The Red Bull RB18 was the only machine to use a pull rod front suspension in addition to the McLaren MCL36. The shape of the front suspension is also unique. The pickup points on the top control arm (called the A arm or wishbone) differ significantly in height between the front and rear (3).
This may be an aerodynamically-focused idea. Wishbones can also be placed in favorable flow areas to provide “anti-dive” suspension geometry so that clean air can flow through the side pod inlets and undercuts.
In motorsport, anti-dive geometry is commonly used to prevent the machine from “diving” when braking. This keeps the tread of the front tires constant during braking, but is also particularly useful for pitch-sensitive underfloor aerodynamics.
The rear suspension uses a push rod type. This has proven to be a popular option among teams to help provide more space for airflow over the diffuser. This shape also allows the Red Bull RB18 gearbox to be shortened. The push rod method improves the shape of the rear of the machine and cleans the air flow over the top of the diffuser.
The upper control arm also has some “postures”. This can be seen more clearly on the AlphaTauri AT-03, which shares a gearbox with the rear suspension (4). This may be a design choice for increasing anti-squats. This complements the anti-dive geometry, keeps the floor as horizontal as possible, and reduces the “porpoising” that can occur due to flow separation.
Red Bull chose a different strategy at the front of the car than its sister team. The Red Bull RB18’s front wing has a full-length slot gap (5) in the first element, and the nose is not mounted on the main plane. The height of the leading edge shape does not change much, and the central part of the principal plane hangs slightly to the lowest allowable height according to the regulation.
The wings appear to be moderately loaded overall (6), with the innermost part of the front wing down, allowing clean air to enter the entrance below the floor (7). The angle of attack of the entire front wing is more aggressive than Mercedes, and the end plate twists at the rear to send air around the front tires (8).
In addition, like Ferrari, Red Bull seems to have chosen to separate the front of the front-mounted nose from the crash structure to support aerodynamic development during the season.
Red Bull chose to trumpet the back of the engine cover to accommodate the cooling outlets. Like many other teams, the cooling duct is directed to the top of the beam wing. The larger rear cooling outlet combined with the side pod design suggests that a significant portion of the cooling is done under the engine cover.
This is not a new concept for the Red Bull family. Last year’s AlphaTauri AT02 had built-in centerline cooling, which could have been taken over and optimized. In particular, Red Bull has a short cooling louver configuration on the afternoon of the first day of testing, leaving the option of a cooling louver available for additional cooling.
The floor is the focus of the 2022 F1 regulation, and Red Bull takes a very different approach in its design. Mercedes and others chose to use four vertical splitters for the underfloor air intake, but Red Bull uses two of these on the outside, which is quite reminiscent of a barge board.
The outer ones perform a very similar function to a barge board to manage the wake of turbulent front tires. The space between the inner and outer flaps may be designed to create a “curtain” along the edges of the undertray, creating a flow structure that helps stretch and seal the edges.
The Red Bull RB18 may have an allowed fence inside the floor entrance, which helps to direct some of the central flow outwards to increase the efficiency of the diffuser. In addition, the lower leading edge of the RB18, like the MCL36, is fairly low and uniform across the width, but the large leading edge radius makes intake less important to the flow direction and aerodynamics during crosswinds or slow cornering. Stability is improved.
Red Bull also revolutionized the beam wing of the RB18. Unlike the front and rear wing rules, the rules do not specify the minimum or maximum overlap of the two allowed elements of the beam wing, only the maximum planar shape (top view) region.
Red Bull chose the full double-decker beam wing with a profile that closely followed the profile of the diffuser (9). This beam wing acts like an extension of the diffuser, helping to regulate the flow at the top of the main diffuser tunnel and maximize the expansion of the airflow from underneath the machine. The slot gap between the two beam elements helps the airflow stay attached to the beam wing, allowing for a tighter curvature, which allows for further expansion.
The RB18 is a truly unique machine on the 2022 F1 grid. It remains to be seen if this radically different interpretation of regulation would be beneficial to Red Bull.
Category: Category: F1 / Red bull / F1 machine
