Red Bull reveal RB20 upgrade with ‘performance’ gains sought in Baku

Michelle Foster
The Red Bull RB20 stripped down in Baku

The Red Bull RB20 stripped down in Baku

Red Bull will run a new floor on the RB20 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the team tries to get a handle on their balance issues.

Neither Max Verstappen nor Sergio Perez were happy with the performance of the RB20 at the Italian Grand Prix where they were sixth and eighth respectively.

Red Bull introduce new floor in Baku

Verstappen’s deficit in qualifying was almost seven-tenths down on pole-sitter Lando Norris with the Dutchman crossing the line 38 seconds behind race-winner Charles Leclerc in what was his heaviest loss of the season.

Speaking after the race, he told the media including PlanetF1.com: “I’ve said a lot, and now it’s up to the team to come with a lot of changes with the car, because we basically went from a very dominant car to an undriveable car in the space of, what, six to eight months.”

But while it may not be the eureka fix that Red Bull are chasing, the team has arrived in Baku with a new floor for the RB20.

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The only big change of any of the teams, the primary reason for the change has been billed as ‘performance’ with Red Bull revising the floor tunnel geometry.

The changes are intended to improve the ‘pressure gradients along the floor to improve the flow locally and downstream in all conditions.’

Two other teams have introduced tweaks to their cars, Aston Martin and VCARB.

While Aston Martin have revised the ‘trim to the bottom edge of the lower deflector’ of the rear corner to improve the AMR24’s performance, VCARB have reduced the camber flap of the front wing. That, however, is more circuit-specific than performance gain.

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