Aston Martin Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer RB14

[digitalrurouni]

They aren't winning every race, because they are still down on horsepower. But that is a different matter altogether. There is no logic in saying "the car is better on tracks where power doesn't matter, therefore it must have high drag".

By the way, I don't think they are at a point where they are making "so much more" downforce than others. They are making marginally more downforce than others, and are marginally down on power. In a close fight, that means you are slightly ahead at one track and slightly behind at others.

Ricciardo's lap time at Monaco tells me otherwise!!! He was ahead by a country mile in such a short twisty track! Car has phenomenal aero. I stand by what I said. Ferrari or Merc PU in that Red Bull and it would win the championship easy especially with Danny behind the wheel.

[iichel]

It looks like he takes the major advantage at the nouvelle and swimming pool chicanes:



Slightly ahead in Portier:



He's ahead further in Tabac it seems:

[dfegan358]

Seemed on tv red bull definitely carried higher speed through tabac which indicate good aero and downforce medium/ high speed corners that’s where I think they gained time and also at chicane out of tunnel!

RB14 clearly has most downforce, does that necessarily mean it has to have less aero efficiency in straight line?

How do you think Canada will pan out? Traditionally engine circuit!

[Benii6]

It looks like he takes the major advantage at the nouvelle and swimming pool chicanes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZfGIQARr3Q

Slightly ahead in Portier:

https://i.imgur.com/xG4v8Gm.png

He's ahead further in Tabac it seems:

https://i.imgur.com/gmqTBvX.png

You can compare like that if the speeds are the same. And I think the Tabac corner is noticeably faster.

[wesley123]

The RB14 seems to have a rather unique shape, they seem to have very little horizontal surface. This could have the effect of having very little lift on these surfaces.
Some of the air coming over the leading edge of the sidepod could descend to the trailing edge of the diffuser, as opposed to predominantly using the undercut used by other teams.

Hence generating lift... or?

No. Generally top surfaces like the sidepods generate lift. This is why they feature an element or VGs at the leading edge to help cope with that.

However, recent changes in sidepod design aim at making sure the airflow 'rolls' off to the side instead of over the top of the sidepod.

[wesley123]

They aren't winning every race, because they are still down on horsepower. But that is a different matter altogether. There is no logic in saying "the car is better on tracks where power doesn't matter, therefore it must have high drag".

By the way, I don't think they are at a point where they are making "so much more" downforce than others. They are making marginally more downforce than others, and are marginally down on power. In a close fight, that means you are slightly ahead at one track and slightly behind at others.

Ricciardo's lap time at Monaco tells me otherwise!!! He was ahead by a country mile in such a short twisty track! Car has phenomenal aero. I stand by what I said. Ferrari or Merc PU in that Red Bull and it would win the championship easy especially with Danny behind the wheel.

While Monaco is a max downforce track it certainly isn't an aero dominating track. Aerodynamic effects increase with speed, and at Monaco these speeds are the lowest of the year, thus making aero less important. Mechanical grip is much more important in monaco; You need the traction out of slow corners and you need to be able to make the turns in these slow corners. Aerodynamic forces help relatively little in these situations.

[Benii6]

They aren't winning every race, because they are still down on horsepower. But that is a different matter altogether. There is no logic in saying "the car is better on tracks where power doesn't matter, therefore it must have high drag".

By the way, I don't think they are at a point where they are making "so much more" downforce than others. They are making marginally more downforce than others, and are marginally down on power. In a close fight, that means you are slightly ahead at one track and slightly behind at others.

Ricciardo's lap time at Monaco tells me otherwise!!! He was ahead by a country mile in such a short twisty track! Car has phenomenal aero. I stand by what I said. Ferrari or Merc PU in that Red Bull and it would win the championship easy especially with Danny behind the wheel.

While Monaco is a max downforce track it certainly isn't an aero dominating track. Aerodynamic effects increase with speed, and at Monaco these speeds are the lowest of the year, thus making aero less important. Mechanical grip is much more important in monaco; You need the traction out of slow corners and you need to be able to make the turns in these slow corners. Aerodynamic forces help relatively little in these situations.

Is it wrong to say that the best aero indicator was actually Spain?

[Per]

Ricciardo's lap time at Monaco tells me otherwise!!! He was ahead by a country mile in such a short twisty track! Car has phenomenal aero. I stand by what I said. Ferrari or Merc PU in that Red Bull and it would win the championship easy especially with Danny behind the wheel.

A short twisty track requires a car with excellent kinematic properties, low rotational inertia (which you can achieve, for example, by shortening the wheelbase) and great traction out of slow corners. Monaco is more about suspension and chassis than about aero.

[bill shoe]

It looks like he takes the major advantage at the nouvelle and swimming pool chicanes:

Yes, indeed! When I saw the lap time difference was only ~ 0.2 seconds, I "knew" I wouldn't see any clear difference in the video, but I was wrong. The RB continues flowing thru those chicanes in contrast to the Ferrari which you can see & feel is just passively understeering around them. Daniel Ricciardo gets to drive the car every inch of the way, while Vettel is forced to become a passive steering-wheel holder thru those chicanes!

[Godius]

Aerial perspective:



full resolution

[astracrazy]

New wallpaper, thanks

[atanatizante]

Since Barcelona their tyre management it`s the best from these 3 top teams and I wonder what`s the reason for that: their short wheelbase, their new upgrades or both?

In Monaco Ricci was in front, like Lewis was in Spain, therefore benefited from clean air ahead, but in Barca Max was just behind Kimi for some 15-20 laps and being on 27 laps old SS tyres was fending easily against Lewis` attacks on new medium tyres ...

In contrast, both Ferrari and Merc, once they are in the pack behind one driver`s dirty air is struggling with tyre management, hence their long wheelbase philosophy is hindering in that regard ...

Therefore, in RB case I think it`s their short wheelbase with the latest Barca upgrades, don`t you think?

[FPV GTHO]

Personally i think theyve probably just got the most downforce, meaning less slip, but in general i think they could be putting less energy into the tyres which could also be reflected in how much stronger their race pace is vs qualifying pace.

[ringo]

Interesting to read the comments about the aero shape of this car.
This car is back to the traditional pre turbo era shape, so it will produce considerably more down force across the body than the competitors. The L/D ratio is better, but that doesn't mean the car would not benefit considerably from more horsepower.
As for its mechanical behavior, it's tied very much into the aero as well, center of pressure and all that stuff.
The tyre wear can be down to over or understeer in the chassis, and how willing the car is to turn in.

The shorter cars may have an advantage with tyre wear compared to the longer cars.

[PhillipM]

It's not just the short wheelbase, the way the RB does their sidepods, their CoG should be notably lower than anyone elses too, given the tyres this year seem very sensitive to overloading that's giving them a fair helping hand.