Red Bull introduced upgrades to the RB21 challenger in Saudi Arabia, but its inclusion in the overall package was almost done in disguise.
The team carried out work on the car on Thursday to refine the radiators and internal ducts ahead of the weekend, with the extent of the work leaving it to carry out pit stop practice almost three hours later than its rivals.
The only section visible from the Jeddah upgrades was the engine cover vent and changes to the beam wing.
The FIA car upgrade submissions only cover aerodynamic modifications, so it’s necessary to mention the real extent of the engine cover change had a specific function of increasing heat exchange.
Max Verstappen drove to second place behind race winner Oscar Piastri, with the former now sitting 12 points down on the championship lead.
As Red Bull look to take back control of the drivers’ standings, further upgrades are expected to be rolled out in the near future.
In Jeddah, an updated floor was ready to be fitted to the car but the engineers preferred to attach one modification at a time to evaluate its effectiveness.
RacingNews365 understands the floor could make an appearance at the Miami Grand Prix despite the weekend being a sprint event with just one practice session.
Alternatively, the upgrade would be postponed to Imola, round seven of the campaign where another radical modification is planned that involves the profile of the sidepods, in addition to the vertical flow diverters under the floor and a different profiling of the rear bodywork in front of the rear suspension.
The research by the engineers directed by Pierre Wache has focused on the specific evaluation of the inconsistent car performance, which has demonstrated radical variations in terms of dynamic behaviour, with minimal variations in setup.
Even the wings, more in terms of construction than real differences in the shape of the profiles, will differ in Imola from those adopted up to now. In fact, we could consider them an intermediate, but almost definitive version, ahead of those that will debut in Spain two weeks later.
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Join RacingNews365's Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen's five-second time penalty is a major talking point, as is Oscar Piastri being a potential match for the Dutchman. Lando Norris' title chances are also explored.
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