You may have thought that now most of the new cars have been launched, few changes would be made prior to the first race in Australia next month. Well, you’d be wrong if you thought that as the teams are busy trying out new parts all the time, none more so than Red Bull. The squad, under the watchful eye of Adrian Newey, turned up at Barcelona this morning with a very interesting addition to the engine cover on their RBR4.
I guess it can only be described as a fin, and replaces the traditional downward curve of the spine on the back of the car. The fin moves back away from the roll-hoop and then cuts around the rear wing and back down to where the gear box is positioned. The idea is apparently in an attempt to improve the stability of the car when it slides laterally. This could prove quite effective under braking as the new ECU diminishes the engine braking and causes some instability as the cars approach corners. Whether or not the device will make onto the race car in Australia is yet to be seen, but as it stands, it looks ugly but does provide extra space for sponsors.
If Red Bull find the fin effective I suspect it could become a standard part, changing the way Formula One cars look a fair bit and reclaiming some of the lost performance from the new standard ECU rules.
February 1st, 2008 at 10:22pm
It must be a bit of a nightmare in a crosswind…
February 1st, 2008 at 10:29pm
…can’t be any worse than a Honda Jazz going over the M275 flyover bit on a moderately breezy day.
On a slightly more serious note: It was Newey who was involved in McLaren’s third brake pedal back innovation (because it really was innovative) back in the late-nineties. I wonder if Newey’s gonna slip a hinge on that fin and turn it into an extra driver-operated steering device.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:34am
Asking for instant banning, Ollie - a movable aerodynamic device. Newey should wait until Ferrari get the idea from pondering the silly tailfin on the RB4.
February 2nd, 2008 at 3:38am
it looks ugly and also wonder what kind effect will it have if the wind comes from the wrong direction … it kind of resembles the fin like rear end Honda ran at Bonneville (OK that was totally different but maybe that is where the initial idea came from)