Adrian Newey unveils the exhaust innovations that defined his F1 success, revealing the clever aerodynamic tricks that kept Red Bull ahead.
Adrian Newey is known for creating and exploiting many ingenious ideas in Formula 1. Now the technical mastermind at Aston Martin F1, he explains that the various iterations of the exhaust-blown diffuser are the innovations he most enjoyed developing on the cars he designed.
“I think if I had to name just one, it would probably be finding a way to properly use the exhaust effect again,” Newey told Auto Motor und Sport.
“I believe it was around 1985 that Lotus started blowing the diffuser on its car, and it’s a very powerful effect that introduces high-energy air underneath the car.”
“Exhausts positioned under the car were banned after Imola 1994. On the 2000 McLaren, we found a way to reintroduce exhaust blowing by hiding it next to the gearbox and above the plank. But, of course, that loophole was soon closed!”
“At Red Bull, we found another way with the RB6, the 2010 car, by mounting the exhausts on the side, in the coke-bottle area, but blowing into a slot of the double diffuser—and that was very powerful.”
“Double diffusers, and thus that loophole, were banned in 2011, but we had rediscovered their potential, so I was eager to find a way not to lose it.”
Red Bull secured eight titles in four seasons with Sebastian Vettel, and Newey reveals that directing the exhaust towards the diffuser was a key factor in this success, despite having to adapt to FIA regulation changes aimed at countering his innovations year after year.
“One of the main aerodynamic issues all single-seaters face is what’s known as ‘squish’—when air hits the wheel, moves downward until it reaches the ground, and has nowhere else to go, causing it to spray sideways.”
“This creates a lot of turbulence at the front, with drag from the front wing, and at the rear, where dirty air spills under the diffuser. I thought that if we could place the exhaust just ahead of the diffuser and have it blow slightly downward, we could use it to counteract this ‘squish’ loss.”
“That’s what the 2011 car, the RB7, did, with what looked like cricket bats positioned just ahead of the tire. It was incredibly powerful. Of course, it was banned in 2012, so the rule makers clearly didn’t like us blowing the exhaust!”
“The next regulation required the exhausts to blow upwards at a 30-degree angle, with strict limitations. At Red Bull, we struggled a bit with that. McLaren came up with the idea of directing them upwards, known as the Coanda effect.”
“What we did at Red Bull was copy McLaren’s channel, which pointed upward and curved downward (photo below), but we extended it all the way to the rear tire to have a strong chance of channeling it into a U-shape. It was an incredibly powerful effect once we got it to work.”
“I think that this four-championship streak Red Bull achieved from 2010 to 2013… of course, there were many factors behind it, but one of the most powerful was that, for those four years, we found a way to make an exhaust-blown system work.”
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How Newey’s Brilliant Exhaust Trick Gave Red Bull the Edge How Newey’s Brilliant Exhaust Trick Gave Red Bull the Edge How Newey’s Brilliant Exhaust Trick Gave Red Bull the Edge How Newey’s Brilliant Exhaust Trick Gave Red Bull the Edge
