For the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Red Bull was the only top team to introduce performance upgrades, albeit only a partial one.
The package included a new engine cover and rear suspension with the aim of improving the performance of the beam wing.
The evolution of the engine cover differs from the old specification in two areas. On the sides, it is not sporting the cooling gills owing to the fact that the ambient temperature in Japan is set to be far cooler than in Bahrain next weekend.
Secondly, the new design is profiled towards the rear-wing pillar with a smaller cross-section of the rear venting hot air. It is in line with the design ethos of the McLaren rear bodywork which has the function of providing a wider section on the sides of the rear bodywork to increase the out-wash effect of the rear-wing endplates.
This phenomenon dramatically helps to generate a low-pressure vacuum behind the rear-wing as to increase the extraction of air from underneath the car.
It is safe to say that the package is not a major upgrade, as more extensive ones will be deployed at the coming races, but it is a sign that the Milton Keynes engineers believe in the current RB21 concept and are looking to widen its operating window as opposed to a complete revolution.
One fact was also abundantly clear from Friday’s running in Suzuka – in that the car appeared less nervous for new driver Yuki Tsunoda compared to what Liam Lawson drove in the first two races, with Tsunoda’s feedback set to aid the team in developing the tricky RB21.
