SO WHERE ARE THE NOVELTIES?
At the rear, besides the more polished brake ducts, nothing much has changed. Or rather this is what you might think at first glance. Indeed, the car’s floor now sports Ferrari-esque slots while the conjoined Y-shaped lower wishbone was first introduced by Toro Rosso on last year’s STR10. Oddly, the leading edge of the diffuser is now flat when it was curved in the middle and around the rear crash structure in 2015.
The RB12 features a three-tailpipe setup at the back, which is also the case on most the other 2016 cars save for… the Renault RS16. This is quite surprising when one considers that both machines are using the same Renault power unit, though it carries the name of new main sponsor TAG Heuer on the Red Bull.
Having two different tailpipes for the wastegate theoretically allows a better control of the turbo boost, while a single tailpipe installation is more compact but offers only marginal aero gains. Another small touch of originality can be found in the metallic element that binds all three tailpipes together as they stick out of the engine cover.
This will not come as a surprise but Red Bull is running a high angle rake on its latest challenger, having pioneered the concept on the previous RB cars. So does McLaren now that Prodromou heads Woking's aero department. The rationale behind the high rake philosophy is to have the maximum air flowing underneath the car, with the floor acting as a maxi-size diffuser if you will.
