Red Bull Racing's challenge for a sixth-place finish in the Formula 1 constructors' championship has received a significant boost. The adoption of their 2024-specification rear suspension for the Las Vegas Grand Prix onwards has opened up new possibilities. While the battle between Alpine, Haas, and RB might not be the most glamorous in the eyes of the watching world, it holds great significance as the prize money difference between eighth and sixth is over $20 million. Currently, RB sits in eighth place, with sixth-placed Alpine only five points ahead.

Unlock Performance with Red Bull's 2024 Rear Suspension

Suspension Upgrades and Their Impact

Suspension is not one of the "listed team components" that teams must design themselves, allowing Red Bull to utilize the suspension produced by its sister team. However, they have created their own aerodynamic shrouds for the various suspension arms as these are listed. Although Red Bull only declared in the car upgrade submissions document released on Thursday night in Las Vegas that its suspension leg orientations had been modified and the profiles realigned, this is in accordance with the regulations that only demand bodywork changes to be revealed in the upgrade documentation issued by the FIA.The sporting regulations state that "each competitor must provide a summary document to the media delegate listing the name and brief description of all major aerodynamic and bodywork components and assemblies that have not been run at a previous competition or TCC [test] and are intended to be run at the competition". Alongside the suspension change, there are modifications designed to improve aerodynamic performance. This includes lowering the ramp at the back of the sidepods and adding new winglets in the rear inner corner. There is also a lower-drag wing-mirror casing to suit the demands of the Las Vegas circuit.

Racing Director's Perspective

"It's a new rear suspension, so it gives us both an aerodynamic update and a mechanical update," said RB racing director Alan Permane. "It should improve laptime. We've got a small bodywork updates. There's a bodywork and a brake drum furniture update as well. All those areas interact and that's why all three parts are updated."Red Bull has always used Red Bull suspension components, but often it was limited to specifications a year or more old. However, the new regulations in 2022 meant that they had the latest spec all that season and carried it into 2023. At last year's Singapore GP, they adopted the 2023 Red Bull rear suspension, which was then used for much of this year. The timing of this change was a "conscious decision to take it from here, rather than take it earlier in the season", according to Permane. Although he didn't give a specific reason, potentially the fact that the team was still troubleshooting aerodynamic problems in the early races after the summer break played a part in the decision.He also paid tribute to the efforts of his team for having it ready. "I don't want to say it was easy," said Permane. "It's what we're good at, 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 this firstly pre-fitted, and everything going together well, and then getting quantities here for us to race with."

Season Performance and Future Implications

RB's season has been a challenging one, with a lengthy spell mid-season when it struggled with development pace relative to its midfield rivals despite starting the year strongly. However, upgrades since the August break have allowed it to get back on track, and the team is confident it can battle at the head of the midfield pack for the rest of the season."It should be good," said Permane of the performance gain from the upgrade and the boost for RB's chances of finishing sixth in the championship. "From what we see in our offline sims and in our simulator, it gives us a little bit. If we 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 Brazil, but I'd expect them to bounce back from that as well. So 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."As the rear suspension specification will be carried over into 2025, the final three events will also allow the gathering of vital data that can influence the development of next year's car. If all goes as planned, this is a double whammy that will pay off with immediate performance as well as improved early-season pace next year.