Red Bull’s puzzling approach to Verstappen and Lawson’s RB21 explained

Red Bull is seeking to eliminate critical issues with its new RB21 after it faced several challenges with its predecessor from last season.

In reality, the development of the new car gives the impression it is, to a certain extent, a 'hybrid'. On one hand, it seems it is not a complete departure from the previous concept while, in terms of packaging, the new car is more conventional.

The original shape of the RB20, with the base of the engine cover hidden by two long bazookas that sloped sharply towards the rear, has been replaced by a bodywork that seems to be a rational evolution of the one that debuted in Hungary last year.

It is important to remember why that configuration was introduced. Defined as a high load specification, it found its justification - especially for the time and technical resources used within the context of an ongoing championship battle  - in the search for a better heat exchange, so as not to compromise the reliability of the Honda power unit.

In doing so, the engineers at the Milton Keynes-based squad, directed by Pierre Wachè, have tried above all not to undermine the potential performance of the RB21, rather than increase it with a more radical approach.

It was interesting to note the extensive use of flow-vis paint used by the team during Liam Lawson's stint on the opening morning of pre-season testing.

It showed, more substantially than it first appeared, how the front wing manages the aerodynamic flow directed towards the sides of the car in a completely different way to the RB20.

However, the absence of real, visible macroscopic differences between the final iteration of that car and the RB21 is perplexing.

Is it perhaps a symptom of the team's engineers evaluating this current concept as not being further developable in terms of pure performance?

Towards the end of last season, this belief increasingly gained traction among rivals in the F1 paddock, due to Red Bull's 10-round streak without a grand prix victory.

The basis for this was a more critical issue with the vehicle dynamics of the RB20 when compared to other cars in F1.

Over the coming days, it will be possible to establish what deep foundations of Red Bull's success in the contemporary ground effects era has any further development left in it.

In any case, rivals underestimating Red Bull is at their own peril, which could prove to be a significant mistake over the final season of this regulations cycle.