Red Bull says the updates to its Formula 1 cars floor and diffuser that it introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix were inspired by Williams.
Despite its dominant start to the 2023 season, Red Bull is still pushing hard to refine the RB19 in certain areas as the team unveiled tweaks to edge floor and corner of the diffuser for Barcelona.
While the changes to the rear of the car were minor, Red Bull admitted the idea had originally come from another team on the grid.
In Red Bull’s notes submitted to the FIA explaining the revised parts, it said: “A small increase in local load towards the trailing edge of the diffuser profile in the upper corners has been extracted with a more curved profile taking inspiration from competitor designs.”
Red Bull initially stayed tight-lipped over the where it had taken inspiration from until chief engineer Paul Monaghan revealed the design tweaks were something it had spotted on last year’s Williams.
“You can’t assume that you have the best solution in all areas of the car when you first put your car on the ground,” Monaghan said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.
“Our currency is lap time, isn’t it? If you look, that piece of floor design that was out early 2022. I recall the Williams had it quite early on and some other people had it.
“It didn’t necessarily work for us then, but we’ve looked at it a couple of times, and it’s a small benefit. It looks like a slightly larger change than is actually realised, as it’s coming towards the back of the floor.
“So it’s not going to be the most influential thing, but it helps a little bit. And you’re quite constrained height-wise, where we can do it.
“It’s been there for a while in our work. But we were in a position where we could include that in that local bit of the floor, and we’ve done it.”
The modifications mark the first time Red Bull has resorted to using a rival team’s idea since the current generation of cars came into force at the beginning of 2022.
It comes during a time where Red Bull’s all-conquering package has led to other teams copying its sidepod concept in an attempt to close the performance deficit.
