F1 tech spies start to penetrate Red Bull camouflage

[John S]

But will they find all the newbie bright ideas? 
They've found an 'S-duct', how much more is there??? 

Red Bull have chosen to run their new car as ‘camouflaged’ to prevent prying eyes discovering some of the more interesting features of Adrian Newey’s last F1 design.

Even so, as cunning as the teams strive to be with their collective opposition – F1 photographers appear to seemingly unveil secrets of the latest designs at ease. In a photograph by Alex Galli which is featured on an Italian website – some of the secrets of the RB11 design emerge.

A vent in the nose in front of the driver reveals that the new car is running with an ‘S-duct’ which essentially draws air in from under the nose and funnels it into the airflow on top of the chassis. The benefits being a stabilisation of the airflow, increase in downforce but without damaging the aerodynamic efficiency of the car. In addition, under the word ‘EXNESS’ (just above where the drivers shoulders are) is a small opening which is designed to vent hot air from the radiators.

Thejudge13.com, Feb 2015.

[F1fanaticBD]

Clever and brilliant, even though it was detected, but I believe this also gives teams a certain idea about protecting their advantage. 

[John S]

On further reflection I don't think red Bull have used the camo paint scheme to really try to hide things, they know after all that photographers will get shots of every inch of the car and these will be analysed by other teams.

Already things have been identified through the graphic cloak and I'm not sure it slows the discovery process by much, if at all.   

I think it's more about their marketing, it makes a notable exception to the usual distinctive Red Bull livery - and would anyone have given their livery a second glance without this?

So it seems you stand out more if you pretend you're hiding.       

[Alianora La Canta]

It didn't stop me from spotting as much of the car straight away as I usually do... ...but more than one person who should know told me that it really does hinder the discovery process, at least in the sense of getting the finer details. It's one thing to know that a car carries and S-duct and another to spot the exact dimensions that turns it from a glorified hairdryer to an effective bit of aero (the times suggest the S-duct is not a hairdryer).

[lkjohnson1950]

DM says the comments about the test livery have been so positive that they will try something even more spectacular for OZ.