Red Bull RB8 Revealed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Red Bull have revealed the much anticipated RB8

Oh my god - I've just watched the actual video stream from their website! step-nose!

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12433/7491908/Champions-Red-Bull-follow-nose-trend-with-RB8

I think the sculpting of the bodywork looks beautiful, however the step nose is quite aggressive and Newey looks to have designed it slightly differently. There is already talk of a hole in the nose which is rumoured to be a 'duct' of some type, possibly for a cooling effect or for some aerodynamic advantage.

Thoughts........pressure on Mclaren to be legal increase?????

Very interesting. The way they've done the stepped nose looks almost nice. From the side/angle view it reminds me of an eagle's beak. Instead of doing what the other teams have done and having the step uniformly across the nose, they've introduced a kind of wedge shape to help the lower portion link up better with the rear of the nose section.

Some serious sculpting on the sidepods - the only other really noticeable change I can see. Floor looks very similar to McLaren's, but the front wing is much lower.

I think as usual with Newey's designs, any tricks will be hidden from casual view and we'll only learn about them once we see the cars on track.


Holes in the nose aren't a new innovation. I distinctly remember a few teams experimenting with those a couple of seasons ago. That said, I think they were more to assist cooling, rather than for any aerodynamic effect.

What will be interesting to see if how the RB reacts if stuck behind another car cos last year the few times the RB was behind someone they struggled to get past

I must admit they all seem pretty downbeat at Red Bull, even Newey. He says the duct is simply for driver cooling and that the decision to ban blown diffusers, which the Red Bull was centred and designed around has hurt the team more than others.

Well, they did design the RB7 from the start, around the exhaust-blown diffuser concept, whereas the teams who copied the idea had to integrate it into an existing design.

It explains why no-one else's seemed to work as well as RB's and why losing it might hurt them more than anyone else. Of course, I'm sure Newey's as well versed as anyone in the art of mind games.

I also read his comments about McLaren's lack of a stepped nose. I hadn't really noticed McLaren designed their cars with a lower chassis than everyone else. For me thats a positive sign. Its not that McLaren have missed a trick by NOT having a stepped nose...its just their chassis design means they don't need one.

It would appear that Red Bull are pulling the wool over everybody's eyes. They have done away with the blown diffusers as per the rule change and developed something else. A blown front wing.

Air passes through the hole in the Fiat Multipla inspired front wing, through a series of high tech carbon fibre plumbing and back out over the front wing to increase front wing downforce.

Inspired by Mercedes last year, but I expect Red Rull to have refined this to perfection.

I wonder what other tricks they have up their sleeve?

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/return-of-the-f-duct/

See for yourself!

That more or less reiterates what i said in another thread AC.. though yours was in more detail. THough led me to suggest maybe Mclaren will bring their F-Duct back and other teams for that matter.

Sorry, I have not been around to catch up on all of the threads recently! I don't think the J-Duct can be brought back because it is a driver controlled aero device which, according to this seasons regs, is against the rules.

This Red Bull device remains in the On position. No manipulation required from the driver.

(Apologies if that has been mentioned as well!)

no no sorry AC, i wasnt complaining that youd repeated what id mentioned. I welcomed your comment, as i say yours was in more details.

Thats a good point actually - the devices stays "on". But is that a good thing.. hmmmm

I've not seen any testing of the Red Bull yet, but before all the blown front wing you could say that front wing with the carbon fibre weave flexed a 'little bit!'

I wonder how much it flexes with this extra air being channelled through it? I remember Belgium 2010 when Vettel crashed into Button under braking due to the massive flex in the wing. I wonder if it could happen again? Surely that wing would flex so much it would stress and break? Or cause mass instability under breaking as the decrease in downforce pressure disappears.

I wonder if it would effect the over heating and consequent graining of the Tyres with the added downforce and subsequent weight? It seems a great idea over a flying lap but I am not to sure if it would be be successful over a whole GP?

Obviously they have the expertise to make it work. But will it?

Alessandro makes a very interesting point. Won't be suprised if Newey has come up with another winner here.

I for one just want a competitive season, I do not care who wins it provided we have closer races. If it's the finger snorefest of last season I'll have to pay attention to the wife on Sunday afternoons.

Please Ferrari, Mclaren, Mercedes and Renault, make it competitive!!!!!

A blown front wing is interesting and yes if people seriously believe that the Red Bull duct is for driver cooling then you seriously are stupid. They could easily make the front wing more stern or change the characteristic of the material its made from to reduce flexing. It's a route they may have gone down and it could be the advantage Red Bull are looking for during qualifying, not the race. Q3 in clear air, this concept could be very successful on a single lap basis and I think the continued use of the system could have detrimental effects upon tyre durability. This is all getting very intriguing indeed and hardly suprising from Newey that he would incorporate this on the RB8

Interesting concept, but as has already been pointed out, increasing the loading on the tyres (by increasing downforce) will impact tyre durability.

If they have indeed come up with a blown front wing, maybe Red Bull figure it will give them enough of an advantage that they can pit first and still come out in the lead?