F1 News: Red Bull's DRS Advantage Will Return - Here's Why
Lewis Hamilton secured pole position after a long time at the Hungaroring, leaving behind Max Verstappen by a mere 0.003 seconds. However, he made some keen observations about Verstappen's RB19 F1 car that got everybody thinking.
Hamilton claimed that the car didn't have the DRS advantage anymore as it used to, resulting in a drop in overall pace. He said:
"I mean, they've still got the DRS, but they don't have the DRS advantage all of a sudden that they used to have. Where did that go?
"They've just had an upgrade, so we expected them to have taken another step. We heard it was around two-tenths or something like that, so for them to not have been able to extract that in qualifying is interesting."
If you compare the RB19's pace at the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, you'll notice that Hamilton has indeed got his homework right. Verstappen's speed at the Hungaroring's start-finish line was 260.9km/h against Hamilton's 260.3 km/h. Verstappen's speed then increased to 304.9km/h at the speed trap further down towards Turn 1 against Hamilton 304.9km/h!
Coming to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that saw Hamilton praise the RB19, Verstappen crossed the start-finish line at 311.9 km/h against Hamilton's 307.9km/h. At the speed trap toward the final corner, Verstappen's pace was measured at 337.5 km/h against Hamilton's 329.7km/h.
If you thought that Red Bull had a short start-finish straight disadvantage in Hungary, the case was similar in Melbourne but Red Bull carried a much higher start-finish line speed and at the speed trap than Hamilton's W14.
Speculations suggested that maybe, Red Bull has been asked to remove some part of the RB19 responsible for its pace in the first half of the season after a silent FIA intervention. However, according to rival engineers who keep a close eye on developments, the drop in speed is attributed to the car's set-up choices at different downforce levels and beam wing configurations.
The RB19's DRS advantage comes from its rear wing which is a big source of drag when compared to other cars. As a result, when the wing is open, it loses a lot of resistance thereby offering a considerable boost in performance.
Red Bull is able to run a larger profile rear wing along with a much smaller beam wing as one as opposed to other teams who use them as two wings. The beam wing works alongside the diffuser which helps stabilize the rear section of the car since it delivers extra downforce.
However, more downforce means more drag due to bigger beam wings, thereby compromising top speed with or without DRS. However, Red Bull's underfloor and diffuser produce so much more downforce than others that the team can do away with just one beam wing.
Whenever Red Bull has dropped their pace, it has been observed that they've mostly gone for the double beam wing option being used for high downforce which matches the amount of drag being created by rival F1 cars. This is what happened in Hungary as Hamilton hinted.
Tracks like Hungary and Monaco demand maximum downforce. Consequently, Red Bull opts for a double-beam wing setup that makes the pace similar to other cars, consequently making the DRS less effective. Other tracks that demand lesser downforce often reveal faster speeds from the RB19 and offer a higher DRS advantage.
Red Bull introduced a number of significant updates in Hungary. In terms of the sidepods whose inlet and bodywork retain a similar philosophy but, the underbite panel ahead of the inlet has been extended forward. The edge is also positioned higher than it was before.
From certain angles, the inlet seems like it has been reduced considerably. Some changes have been observed on the aspect ratio too but are not that obvious. The modifications help protect from turbulent airflow that gets diverted into the undercut beneath.
A small cooling panel has also been added at the front of the RB19's sidepod to reject the heat being generated. In addition, the car has also received a cooling panel on the engine cover shelf, a revised engine cover, and rear cooling outlets.
The sizes of the front and rear brake duct outlets have been altered to accommodate the increased temperatures. Changes to the car's floor were also made to accommodate the changes made to the sidepods.
Most of the changes on the RB19 F1 car in Hungary were focused on improving reliability and cooling which ultimately affect performance. However, if the double-wing theory is indeed true, we could witness the RB19 bounce back to its DRS glory with a single-beam wing. Let's wait and watch.