Following a difficult opening six rounds to the F1 season, Red Bull has arrived at Imola with fresh upgrades that it hopes will provide it a step forward.
The Milton Keynes-based squad introduced a new floor in Miami as it looked to close the gap to rivals McLaren, who have won five out of the opening six grands prix.
Red Bull is hoping for a further step in Imola, which should represent the conclusion of the planned development phase before the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of the month.
In Barcelona, the configuration of the RB21 will also change - albeit not dramatically - following the introduction of the new flexibility limits of the front wing.
But for Imola, the changes are still mainly linked to the floor. The upgrades see changes to the shape of the venturi channels and the lateral edge of the floor, allowing for an increase in airflow.
In Imola, the changes will still be mainly linked to the floor, with a different volume and shape of the Venturi channels and the lateral edge of the floor, with a different flow expansion area.
The changes also extend to the lower section of the sidepods and the rear ramp section of the component.
There is talk of a different profiling of the beam wing, even if it will maintain more or less the same shape at a visual level, but with a different central curvature of the profile.
The idea behind the changes planned for the Imola race weekend is to extract more downforce while also allowing for better tyre management - an area that has been crucial to McLaren's early-season success.
In any case, RacingNews365 understands these are changes the team does not consider to be completely effective in solving the fundamental problems of the RB21.
However, they do aim to make the car more predictable for Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda.
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding in a special episode of the podcast, as they are joined by former F1 team principal and friend of the channel Otmar Szafnauer to look ahead to Imola! Max Verstappen, McLaren and Ferrari are just a few of the talking points.
Rather watch? Then click here!
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