RB has updated its VCARB01 chassis for the last three races by taking the rear suspension from the Red Bull RB20 – and the team is confident that it can recover sixth place in the World Championship after falling back to eighth.
In recent years the Faenza outfit has started the season with the previous year’s Red Bull suspension.
Last year it upgraded to what was then RBR’s current spec in Singapore, and this year it has made the move in Las Vegas.
The mechanical changes have been combined with updates to aero parts around the rear wheels.
“It’s a new rear suspension so it gives us both an aerodynamic update and a mechanical update,” said racing director Alan Permane. “So it should improve lap time.
“There’s a bodywork and a brake drum furniture update as well. All those areas interact together, of course, that’s why it’s all three parts are updated.”
Regarding the timing he said: “It was a conscious decision on our part to take it for here, rather than take it earlier in the season.
“I don’t want to say it was easy. It’s what teams are good at, bringing in updates and changing things and developing cars and making prototype parts very quickly and getting them onto cars.
“So it’s been a fantastic job by everyone, certainly in our factory in Faenza to get it, firstly, pre-fitted, and everything going together well and then getting quantities here for us to race with.”.
Permane is confident that the changes will bring performance and give the team the boost that it needs.
“It should be good, from what we see in our in our offline sims and in our simulator, it gives us a little bit,” he said when asked by this writer about the potential gains.
“I think if we put – not if we put, we will put three perfect weekends together – we can do the job.
“Some of it depends on where Aston Martin are, honestly, and they’ve been a little bit up and down. They were certainly down in in Brazil, but I’d expect them to bounce back from that as well.
“It depends on where they are, and what points are available. We need to make sure we just do the best job we can and be the top of that midfield group.”
VCARB has been in a fight for sixth with Haas in the constructors’ championship with the US-owned team recently grabbing the advantage.
However both teams were then demoted a place when Alpine bagged two podium finishes in Brazil.
“These things happen,” said Permane. Take nothing away from Alpine, both drivers did a phenomenal job in the race in Brazil, and it wasn’t just pure fluke, they were quick, and we were quick as well.
“And a poor safety car timing unravelled our race, so these things happen. We’re confident we can get back to sixth.”
Adam Cooper F1 