When Max Verstappen blasted past Lewis Hamilton with ease in F1's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it left an immediate impression about the scale of Red Bull's straight-line speed advantage. But explains Matt Somerfield, the explanation is a simple one ⬇️
said he had never seen a car have such an edge over the opposition"I've definitely never seen a car so fast," remarked the seven-time world champion after finishing 25s behind the Dutchman in fifth, despite starting seven positions ahead thanks to the Red Bull's Q2 engine issue.
While it is clear that Red Bull's car has tremendous aerodynamic efficiency, much of the focus has been on the speed boost improvement that Red Bull appears to get from having its DRS open. For many teams, the resource restrictions and cost cap have resulted in a reduction in the number of bespoke wing solutions when compared with the previous regulatory era. And with a low downforce, high-speed venue like Saudi Arabia featuring so early in the calendar some teams didn't have a more bespoke option in their suite available just yet.
The main area of change at Mercedes was a trimmed upper flap. This would have provided a straight-line speed boost when DRS was disabled, owing to it producing less downforce and drag, but was unlikely to have offered any additional performance when DRS was open compared with the standard flap. The changes made to the regulations for 2022 mitigated some of this, to improve the ability for cars to follow one another. However, it's still an aerodynamic conundrum to solve and one the teams all have varying solutions for given they now have fewer tools at their disposal.
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The simple explanation for Red Bull's DRS dominanceWhen Max Verstappen blasted past Lewis Hamilton with ease in Formula 1's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it left an immediate impression about the scale of Red Bull's straight-line speed advantage.
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