“Red Bull’s innovative ‘cannon cooling’ system on the RB20 catches Mercedes’ eye, sparking curiosity and technical intrigue.
Red Bull unveiled a “cannon cooling” system on their RB20, featuring two large tubes on the rear part of the hood. Mercedes F1 Technical Director James Allison admits to being intrigued by the apparent success of this solution, which his team had discarded this winter.
“I would very much like to be invited into the Red Bull garage, remove the engine hood, and delve under those sorts of ‘tubas’,” Allison remarked, who this year developed a more conventional Mercedes W15 in this regard.
“There’s really a different approach, as what we see from their cooling system is not at all light and sleek. So, they are doing it for a reason, and I would really like to know what that reason is, but we haven’t found it yet.”
The British engineer is convinced that Red Bull will dominate again, but he hasn’t given up hope of challenging the reigning world champions at some point during the season.
Mercedes Optimistic Despite Red Bull Lead
“I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that Red Bull is ahead, and maybe even significantly so, compared to those of us in pursuit. But I believe we will be well-positioned to chase them down, and I hope we will develop strongly throughout the year.”
His colleague, Head of Track Engineering Andrew Shovlin, acknowledges there’s still room to gain time in terms of settings.
“It’s really encouraging to see that we seem to have solved many of the issues the drivers have been discussing over the past 12 and even 24 months with the W13 and W14. We are always trying to refine the settings, and there will surely be more solutions to come. Overall, we are satisfied; we have definitely made progress. In terms of pace, the long runs are probably our strength at the moment.”
“There’s still work to do on a quick lap, but we should be able to, hopefully, put in some good performances when we’re back on track in Bahrain.”
Red Bull Cooling Innovation f1 2024. Red Bull Cooling Innovation
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