The McLaren design inspiring Red Bull's 'make or break' Spa upgrade

At Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull has introduced an extensive upgrade package, including sizeable modifications to the front wing of the RB21.

The second and third elements have been reprofiled to induce different airflow structures, with minor changes to the attachment points of the front suspension working in tandem to help direct the air where Red Bull wants.

The tweaks to the front suspension are characterised by two small winglets, one of which faces downwards, with the other of direct McLaren inspiration, from the Woking squad's recent 'mermaid' update.

Red Bull is aiming to induce uplift of the air towards the sidepod inlets - themselves also modified, effectively merging the vertical and horizontal openings into a single inlet. The cross-section has been increased, meaning changes to the engine cover to create better internal fluid dynamics in response to the different airflow now coming from the upgraded front wing.

The upgrades are not intended to radically alter the aerodynamic platforms of the RB21, but rather to increase the aerodynamic efficiency of the car, or, in other words, to reduce drag.

Across the first half of the season, the RB21 proved to be the worst car on the grid for aerodynamic efficiency, meaning Red Bull was forced to adopt skinny rear wings to boost top speed, at the cost of downforce through corners.

It must be said, however, that Red Bull cannot completely eradicate its poor aerodynamic efficiency in-season with a single upgrade.

But the team is hoping that the management of the airflow from the new front wing can create a partial shift in the aerodynamic centre of pressure, moving it forwards.

That would prove beneficial on tracks with high-speed changes of direction and long, fast corners. 

Therefore, Spa is the perfect proving ground for Red Bull to conduct on-track tests with the upgrades to gather information and verify the consistency between the data gathered in the wind tunnel and that in the real world.