Red Bull RB14
The RB14 appears to be a beautifully integrated design, quite different from any of the others in the aerodynamic philosophy around the sidepods. It bears the hallmarks of a car with more Adrian Newey influence than the RB13 and harks back to some of the features of his V8-era designs. The radiators appear to have been laid over in anhedral formation to lower the centre of gravity within a very narrow span (it has perhaps the narrowest sidepods of any 2018 car), which has imposed an almost triangular section to the sidepods rather than the more common undercut.
A Ferrari-like separated side impact structure/sidepod is used for first time on a Red Bull. The high-mounted radiator inlets (not quite Ferrari SF70H letterbox, but getting there) sit behind and above the structure. It appears as though a lot of components have been sited low towards the front of the sidepod, bringing down the centre of gravity, allowing the pods to be lower but giving it a fatter section there.
A flap over the top of the inlets creates a low-pressure area in the gap, sucking the air faster towards the rad inlet and also over the body behind to reduce lift, similar to last year’s Ferrari.
The top wishbone is higher than conventional (and higher than the RB13’s), but not to the extreme of being mounted away from the upright (as with Mercedes, Sauber and Toro Rosso). But at the inboard end, a lateral extension to the nosecone (aero-profiled and sloping downwards) comes out to meet it.
Ferrari-style ‘letterbox’ openings above and behind side impact structure with a flap over the top to induce a low-pressure area that will accelerate air towards inlet and over the body behind, improving aero efficiency