Red Bull leads updates in Hungary with revised sidepods

F1 teams are slowly entering the point in the season where significant updates will become few and in far between, but in Hungary the changes implemented by Red Bull caught every one's eye.

Despite the Milton Keynes-based outfit's unwavering domination, courtesy of the equally supreme Max Verstappen, and despite its reduced aero testing time, the team's engineering department is still moving forward on the development of its contender.

In Hungary, Red Bull rolled out an RB19 that featured, among other changes, a revised set of sidepods.

The modifications are centered around the sidepod inlet, which is now described as "broader and shallower" in a bid to improve the pressure at the entry to the radiator duct and therefore to increase cooling efficiency, an important factor at the Hungaroring, a track typically demanding in terms of car cooling.

But having revised the inlet, Red Bull say that a wider sidepod panel was necessary, one that utilizes the greater inlet pressure to exploit the inlet improvements. Furthermore, the re-shaped sidepod has led to subtle floor edges changes to work with the upstream surfaces.

At Mercedes, the Brackley squad's W14 features a circuit-specific revised rear wing that includes a larger wing tip cutout that increases the mass flow under the wing tip, which increases local downforce.

At the front of the car, the endplate on the front wing has been lifted to improve flow to the rear of the car. Finally, inboard front suspension camber has been reduced to improve flow quality along the chassis side and on to the front of the floor, resulting in increased floor load.

Ferrari's only update for Hungary is a circuit specific reprofiled front wing flap, consistent with Budapest's high downforce configuration, and which helps achieve a better aero balance.

Over at Aston Martin, the AMR23 is sporting this weekend a circuit specific new engine cover that has a larger exit area for the purpose of increasing the volume of cooling flow exiting from the bodywork.

Alpine's A523 also features a circuit specific updated front wing component that includes a bigger flap to help rebalance the higher rear downforce level used by the Enstone squad in Hungary.

Haas' VF-23 appeared in Budapest with a modified outboard area of the floor body that improves flow expansion underneath the car.

Finally, AlphaTauri's AT04 features a modified front wing where the central elements have been raised to produce a more efficient generation of downforce. For the same reason, the car's nose tip has been raised.

The central part of the AT04's floor has been made wider which accelerates the local flow and generates lower pressure under the floors as a result.

Also, the rear wing flap tips have been modified to produce an efficient increase in loading of the wing elements. In an extreme interpretation of the aero rules, the upper flap has been almost detached entirely from the endplate.

There are no changes at McLaren, Alfa Romeo or Williams, all of whom introduced major updates in recent weeks.

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