Why the Red Bull doesn't look like a Mercedes-beater

The one thing you can be sure of with Red Bull is that it never shows its wares until late in pre-season testing, if at all. It always has confidence in the package, but the key is to get the car running reliably, which so far it hasn't been on the first day.

Red Bull has focused on reducing its manufacturing times over the years, so that allows it to print the design drawing at the last possible moment and make it ready to go on the car. That means it's the most up-to-date part possible that is used, whereas some other teams can't do that and the moment the design is printed and ready for the car, it's history.

The Red Bull doesn't have the same wow factor that you get from looking at the Ferrari sidepods/bargeboard area or the depth of the Mercedes design detail.

What we are seeing in Spain is unlikely to be what we see in Australia, but all that we can do is look at the car as it is.

NOSE

The nose of the Red Bull has attracted plenty of attention. It's the thumb print style, but where it differs from the others is the big duct in the front of it.

It does seem that this duct complies with the regulations as it is for driver cooling, as the regulations say it must be. It will reduce to the maximum area allowable, which is 1500 square millimetres further back in the car. While the regulations don't say it has to do that at a point 50mm back from the nose tip, if I was Charlie Whiting I think I'd question it. But if somewhere in the duct it's no bigger than what is allowed, then it will comply.

As it's a driver cooling duct, it connects to the cockpit. The cockpit, because of its size, is a big area of low pressure trying to suck air in from all sorts of places. And actually, that's why you hear drivers talk about their bums getting warm because there's all sorts of holes for wires and pipes to come through into the cockpit and that low-pressure area pulls that hot air into it.

There is also an aerodynamic advantage, because as soon as the air hits the front of the nose, it won't have to find its way around it and it can go straight through the duct.

So, you will get more consistent airflow there and between the wing pillars and the crash structure. It's not a big deal, but it's valid because it should allow the rest of the car to be more consistent thanks to the effect on the airflow.

FRONT WING

The front wing is, as far as functionality goes, the same as in 2016 but with a delta shape. What it does is more or less the same: produce as much downforce as possible with a trailing edge wake that is sympathetic to what the rest of the car requires.

Red Bull hasn't made many changes from last year, but there will surely be more detail here in the future.

S-DUCT

There is an s-duct on the top of the nose, but the regulations state this cannot connect to the nose duct because that has to be for driver cooling.

It's doing the conventional s-duct job, pulling air in from under the nose and exiting it out to reduce the lift on the curvature over the top of the intersection between the nose and the chassis.

There are also two limpet-style ducts on the lower corner of the nose-to-chassis interface. These ducts will be for cooling some of the electronics or other components that require a bit of airflow.

FRONT SUSPENSION

This is a very simple and standard design, with a double wishbone and inboard spring and damper units, that is pushrod operated. It doesn't look like Red Bull has paid much attention to suspension geometry, but it has always been aerodynamically-driven. With the wider Pirelli tyres, perhaps it's time for the compromise to change its emphasis.

The larger contact patch means you must try and keep the tyre on the ground better by ensuring it's relatively stable across all the load variations.

ENGINE

Renault is pretty happy at the strides made with its engine. But we've yet to see the evidence of that.

If Red Bull is to take the fight to Mercedes then the chassis can't do all the work, it requires a major contribution from Renault.

FLOOR

The other area of the Red Bull that catches the eye, aside from the nose, is what it has done to the floor. There is a triangular cutout next to where the sidepods are at their widest point.

Most teams have a shaped section there trying to create an exit duct for the airflow that has passed over the leading edge of the floor.

Red Bull has taken this further by cutting into the floor and sacrificing surface area to make a more effective exit duct.

Effectively, these two cutouts act as mini diffusers. Then it allows the actual diffuser to work the central part and rear of the underfloor. This is a nice idea.

SIDEPODS

As you'd expect of a Red Bull, the sidepods are compact and drop off and tuck in very early. The Coke bottle area itself is probably as big as on any car.

The sidepods have what might be called P-shaped radiator exits low down at the rear to get the airflow onto the top surface of the diffuser. Then, by tripping over the leading edge of the diffuser, it makes both the diffuser and rear wing work better.

The Coke bottle is there to minimise the impact of having the big rear tyres and create space to direct the airflow inwards. The last thing you want to do is disperse the airflow outwards and create lots of drag, this would effectively make the car wider.

Every team has a Coke bottle, but Red Bull has always been very good at being compact with its packaging in this area. Sometimes, it has done it too well and had cooling problems.

DIFFUSER

The diffuser is nowhere near as sophisticated as the one on the Mercedes. But again, it's a bolt-on part and there will surely be developments in this area.

Overall, there must be an aggressive development package coming for test two or the Australian Grand Prix, because I'm not seeing a Mercedes-challenger in the Red Bull as yet.