Perez Retains Cooling Cannon Verstappen Passes

Perez keeps the cooling cannon on his RB20 as Verstappen decides to go without, Red Bull confirms.

Red Bull explained that the decision to remove the “cooling cannon” from its car at the Hungarian Grand Prix was a track-specific measure that will be interchangeable.

The reigning champions surprised many by unveiling an RB20 equipped with cannons on the engine cover resembling those seen on Mercedes’ W14 in 2023. This solution has worked so far.

Red Bull responded to increased competition with a massive upgrade package in Budapest, which included a redesigned engine cover on Max Verstappen’s car only (for now).

However, this was listed as a “circuit-specific” change designed to enhance cooling, suggesting that the cannons might return next weekend in Belgium.

Red Bull’s chief engineer, Paul Monaghan, revealed that the modification was made to cope with the track’s characteristics and the scorching temperatures at the Hungaroring.

“It’s all related. It’s related to the temperature and the nature of the track. So, we’ll see how it goes here, won’t we?”

“If the lap times are poor in relative terms, we’ll have to think about it. But we think we’re going to move forward with this.”

“Everyone at the factory has done a remarkable job because we brought it here earlier than expected. We hope to make good use of it.”

Verstappen’s car adopted the new engine cover, but his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, will continue using the early-season engine cover.

Monaghan dismissed the idea that adopting alternative cooling configurations on the two cars would pose an additional complication for Red Bull this weekend.

“More work? No, not really, because you’re lining up two cars anyway. The fact that it’s a slightly different shape isn’t going to change our world. It doesn’t change the way we try to optimize it. It’s something we hope to get rid of by Zandvoort, I guess.”

However, Monaghan revealed that Perez will benefit from the other upgrades made by Red Bull.

“We looked at how quickly we could bring this, and this is the first opportunity. Everyone is closer to us, right? So we need to be at the top of our game, and this is another small step. The upgrades, except for this engine cover, are on both cars.”

Verstappen suggested that the team’s season progression might depend on this work. Monaghan conceded that Red Bull anticipates a significant advance, but he cautioned that the lap time gain will be relative to the competition’s progress.

“Based on the data we have for this race, it should be beneficial to us. I think we’ll really evaluate it based on what everyone else has brought. We’ve made the biggest step we could. Is it enough? We’ll know by Sunday afternoon. That’s really the sense we have.”

“Now, is it crucial? It’s the 13th race, so there will be 11 more after this. A lot can happen, right? Let’s see if turn one on Sunday goes as we hope, which is an equally crucial event, let’s see if we can nail the start and qualifying.”

“Every step can be treated as crucial because if one goes wrong, it will spoil your race weekend in one way or another. So we’re going to try to do the best we can with what we have. Will we learn and move forward? Of course, we will.”

“If something doesn’t go right or it doesn’t work as we wish, we’ll review and see if we can determine what’s good and what isn’t. This will of course influence what we do in the future. I think each race is getting tighter, so they’re all going to put pressure on us and present challenges.”