The disappointing start to the season has forced Red Bull into a radical update. Despite the massive effort from the powertrains department, the current power output still doesn’t guarantee the performance needed to consistently fight at the front.
And since the aerodynamics also fell short of expectations, as early as Suzuka, the third round of the championship, the RB22 hits the track with a completely revamped aero package, starting with the sidepods.
The sidepod inlets have been reduced in width in favor of a much more compact design. The goal was to slim down the packaging and carve out a deeper undercut. This meticulous work involves the entire sidepod structure, which has now been completely reshaped.
The slope towards the rear end exploits a much more extreme downwash effect, dropping steeply in its final section (in line with Mercedes and McLaren), until it merges with the floor in the area ahead of the rear wheels.
This configuration is complemented by the reprofiling of that floor section. These aren’t just isolated tweaks, but a complete aerodynamic overhaul. All these modifications work in symbiosis towards a single goal: improving airflow management.
The final update concerns the engine cover in the exhaust region, which is now wider to allow for more efficient heat dissipation from the internal components.
