During Day 3 of pre-season running in Bahrain, Red Bull tested a new nose cone on the RB21, characterized by a decidedly wider and partially squared section of the nose tip. A comparison test was carried out by the team to In practice, to evaluate different management of flows, to divert the air effectively into the undercut area of the side-odd. It emerged that the original configuration of design resulted in excessive out wash, which reduced the effectiveness of the vertical slit placed in the undercut. Furthermore, the new nose cone would apparently also guarantee a slight increase in aerodynamic load, thus being able to adopt flaps with a different level of incidence compared to the original version. Clearly these are modifications designed to find the best aerodynamic balance of the car, but also to evaluate the two configurations. Max Verstappen was carrying out tests at constant speed to allow for this ‘back-to-back’ comparison. As well as hoping to find the better version, it was also important for Red Bull to learn which performed better in a variety of speed ranges, meaning the two nose cones are not mutually exclusive, and could be deployed at any given track. Check out the differences between the two front wings below.
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