Red Bull presents itself in Japan with an important package of innovations. The Milton Keynes team has redesigned the bodywork of the RB22restoring the flat-bellied configuration that was so fashionable during the ground effect era. Verstappen is the only driver to have the developments, despite which, however, he continues to complain about problems with the car’s balance, which are in addition to those of the power unit and being overweight.
Red Bull updates
The team led by Laurent Mekies goes against the grain, bringing an evolutionary package at an unusual moment of the season. Red Bull’s updates arrive at the last race before the long break in April, moreover in a trip very far from the factory and therefore even more impactful on the budget cap. From this perspective, the team could have waited for the next round in Miami and worked in the wind tunnel in the meantimebut debuting the updates in Suzuka has the advantage of being able to collect valuable data to reprocess during the break. Furthermore, Max Verstappen is the only driver in the team to have the new featureswhich is why the team saved on the cost cap by avoiding creating a second package for Hadjar, in a very expensive match.
The developments affect the bodywork of the RB22an area already subject to evolution during the tests in Bahrain. Red Bull has redesigned the vents of the side radiators, but above all it has extended the slide of the sides to the rear, a job that also required a reorganization of some internal components. Thus the flat-bellied configuration returns, conveying the flows from the upper part into the gearbox area, from where they then vent behind the diffuser. The floor is the same as that raced in Shanghai, except for some changes to the connection with the lower part of the bodywork. Furthermore, at Suzuka, Red Bull races with new cooling ducts for the rear brakes, more suitable for a track that is not very severe for the braking system, where it is difficult to keep the rear axle at temperature.
The window is narrow
Unfortunately for Red Bull, Japan’s evolutionary package is not enough to cure the ills of the RB22which in China Max Verstappen had defined as undriveable. At Suzuka the Dutch champion describes a car that goes from one extreme to the other, oscillating between understeer and excessively unstable behavior, a symptom of an operating window that is too narrow. Added to all are the problems of being overweight and the lack of horsepower from the best power units of the lot, which however are not enough to hide the aerodynamic deficiencies. The impression is that Red Bull is suffering the backlash of the resources sacrificed to the 2026 project during the last season to make up ground on the McLarens, as well as a technical department orphaned by the protagonists of the ground effect era, above all Adrian Newey and Rob Marshall. To get back on top, other updates will be needed, starting with those that will most likely arrive in Miami.
